Missing Right In Front of You
by Selene467
Summary: After fourth year. Harry 's magic acts strangely and not before long Harry finds himself stuck in his animagus form. Sirius and his friends as the Order find out Harry is missing, but Harry is closer than they think.
1. I'm Not Fine

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I know it's hard to believe, I'm still recovering from the news.

_Summary: After fourth year. Harry thinks he survived the worst, that is until his magic goes haywire and he finds himself stuck in his animagus form. Through turn of events Harry ends up with Remus. The Order and his friends think he's missing unaware that Harry is extremely close. Can Harry make them figure his presence out? Does he even want to be found?_

Missing Right In Front of You

Chapter 1 – I'm Not Fine

A loud bell echoed throughout the Hogwarts Express. They had arrived at King's Cross station. All at once loud shuffling noises rumbled through the train as students made to leave their compartments and get off the train.

Harry sighed inwardly as he looked out the window at the students with their families heaving and lifting their trunks from the train. Everyone seemed excited to be going back home yet many still wore a haunted look behind their excitement. It wasn't all that unusual. After all, how many times does a student die at Hogwarts?

Harry turned away from the window when he felt someone placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Hermione with a concerned expression.

"Are you…" Hermione began but Harry cut her off.

"I'm fine" Harry said a little harsh. He didn't mean to sound like that, he just couldn't deal with the concern and everlasting questions right now.

Hermione seemed to pick up on that fact as she nodded in response. She left the train, Harry slowly trailing after her. Without even a glance Hermione and Ron both helped him get his trunk. After making sure he had everything, Harry turned to his friends.

Hermione still wore a concerned expression but she tried her best to hide it with a smile. Ron was pretty much the same, although Harry guessed Ron simply couldn't deal with that much worry and therefore acted as if everything was fine.

Harry didn't particularly care. After everything was taken care off he hadn't spoken a word. Well he did speak, but all he said was either 'I'm fine' or one-worded answers. It wasn't simply because he couldn't deal with what happened. It was a big part of it, but it wasn't the sole reasons for his lack of speech.

No Harry was afraid he would start yelling, screaming or even crying if he spoke much more. Everything that happened was desperately trying to get out, but Harry refused to let that happen. Instead he did what he always did, he bottled it all up inside.

He knew it wasn't right, but he just couldn't deal with it and he certainly wasn't going to break down. He couldn't afford to show any weakness. Definitely not now, since everything was going literally down-hill now. He never had an easy year, but now……things would definitely increase in horror tenfold and Harry knew it was all his fault, no matter what anyone said.

"Promise to write, okay Harry?" Hermione said softly almost begging Harry to comply.

Harry nodded his head slightly. If it would make her feel better he would write. After all she didn't say he had to make them very detailed.

"Well…uhm I'll try to convince dad to let you come to my place. I'm sure it'll be fine" Ron tried to sound cheerful but was failing at it miserably. Nevertheless Harry nodded and gave the smallest of smiles.

Hermione threw herself around his neck whispering comforting words before she pulled away and left the station to find her parents. Ron gave Harry a pat on the back as always and left with his family.

Harry had told Ron he really couldn't deal with the other Weasley's and had almost begged Ron to keep them away. Ron knew that meant Harry was really in bad shape, but seeing his friend's desperate expression he complied and had even managed to stop his mum from seeking Harry out. How he managed that, was a mystery to Harry.

Harry waved goodbye to the Weasley family before going through the barrier. Harry swiftly made his way to the parking lot, knowing if he took much longer Uncle Vernon would simply leave without him, probably thinking he died on them or something. Not that they would be particularly upset about. If anything they would celebrate until they passed out. The celebration might even be bigger than Dudley's birthday celebrations.

As expected Vernon sat behind the wheel, face completely red from anger and annoyance as he waited for Harry, who he referred to as 'boy'. As soon as Vernon noticed Harry he literally exploded out of the car a look of huge apprehension on his face as his eyes darted all over the place. He pulled open the trunk almost ripping it loose from the car and turned hateful eyes on Harry.

"Hurry up boy, before someone sees you!" He barked at Harry.

Being used to this treatment by now, Harry simply ignored it and heaved his heavy trunk into the car. Just when he got it safely in the car did he hear a loud screech. Harry quickly turned around to see Uncle Vernon literally throw Hedwig's cage, with Hedwig still in it, on the backseat.

"Be careful!" It was out before Harry realised what he'd said. Knowing he was getting an ear-bashing now, Harry dropped his gaze and mumbled an apology, not that Vernon would hear it from the blood rushing in his head.

"What did you say?!" He asked in a dangerous low voice. Harry tried not to swallow in anticipation. His whole body tensed as he prepared for Uncle Vernon to explode in anger.

Harry closed his eyes instinctively when Uncle Vernon grabbed him by the hair and threw him into the car. He slammed the door shut and Harry had just in time pulled his legs inside before they would be chopped off by the door. Uncle Vernon moved to the back of the car and slammed the trunk shut so hard, the whole car shook. Vernon then made his way over to the driver's seat slamming his own door shut. Again the car shook from the share force.

The drive back to Privet Drive was intense, Silence rang through the car except for uncle Vernon's angry takes of breath and his snorts of annoyance. Harry didn't dare sit up or look at anything. So he simply looked at the floor of the car after sending a swift apologetic look at Hedwig. _'Way to start your holiday' _Harry thought miserably.

* * *

As expected Harry got locked in his room as soon as he stepped into the house. He heard the locks click and the board being pushed in place. His first slip up on the first day of summer. How much worse could it get?

Harry didn't bother unpacking his trunk. He felt miserable and exhausted. The fact that he wouldn't be receiving any diner today didn't help his mood at all. It wasn't really surprising though. This was usually his punishment for his 'insolent' behaviour.

Normally Harry could refrain himself from saying anything the Dursley's thought of as 'out of line', which usually meant everything he said was 'out of line'. He didn't care how he got treated, not anymore at least. He was used to it so much it seemed almost normal to him.

No, Harry cried out because of Hedwig. He couldn't bare the thought of her getting hurt because of him. Uncle Vernon hated him, that was no mystery, and simply by being Harry's pet Hedwig was declared a burden and horrid creature that didn't deserve kind treatment.

Harry shook his head. He wasn't going to drown in sorrow. He didn't deserve to grieve or feel like life was unfair. What he got was fair. What Cedric got wasn't.

The thought of Cedric made Harry's chest ache. Cedric was dead and it was all because of him. Voldemort wanted him, not Cedric. Yet because of Harry, Cedric got killed. Harry insisted they take the cup together. Cedric was willing to let Harry win which meant Harry would have been transported to the graveyard alone. But no, he had to act all honourable. If he had just done what Cedric said, then he wouldn't have died. Cedric would have lived.

Feeling his bottled up emotions threaten to rise to the surface Harry threw himself face down on his bed in a desperate attempt to keep the emotions at bay. He couldn't break down, not here, not now, not ever!

* * *

"Kill the spare!"

"NOOO!" The scream echoed through the room, but went no further. Harry bolted upright in his bed drenched in sweat and breathing rather laboured. His hair stuck to his head and his whole body was shaking.

Harry tried to calm himself, but he couldn't stop shaking. It was so real, like he was back there and living through it, all over again. He made to brush a hand through his hair, but stopped midway there. His eyes darted across the room wide in surprise and slight confusion.

His room was a mess. All the loose objects he possessed – which weren't many- lay scattered across the room, some even stuck in the walls. How that happened was beyond Harry. What had happened here? It was then that he heard Hedwig flapping her wings wildly in her cage obviously distressed.

Harry got up and moved over to her cage. He quickly opened it up and Hedwig took flight through the room probably trying to calm herself. After flying several circles she flew back to Harry and sat down on top of her cage.

Harry felt slightly nervous now. What happened to mess his room up like did and panic Hedwig? He searched around his room picking up the objects at the same time. There was nothing that didn't belong, except for Harry according to the Dursely's.

Harry placed the objects back to their place before moving over to the wall. There were two objects stuck in his wall and with stuck he meant really stuck. Half of the objects were impossible to see as they were all the way into the wall. Harry pulled and pulled, but they wouldn't budge. In the end Harry gave up.

He looked at the alarm clock and noticed it was still early in the morning, 4.30 to be precise. Sighing heavily Harry collapsed back on his bed. He was more exhausted then before he went to bed and now his mind kept going over what happened to his room. Harry was relieved that he remembered to place a silencing charm on his room.

He knew he wasn't supposed to do magic out of school, but a silencing charm wasn't that powerful to cause mayhem in the Ministry. The spell would give off a certain signature, but since it wasn't something really powerful no one worried about it. Most simply assumed it was some uncontrolled magic. If he had really cast a strong spell, like a Patronus, then yes he would definitely hear from the Ministry.

A loud screeching noise broke Harry out of his thoughts. He sat up and looked towards his window. Much to his horror there was an owl outside. Harry felt his stomach lurch at the sight. Whatever happened in his room would not be heard, but an owl OUTSIDE would definitely get his uncle's attention.

Harry jumped up, his heart beating feverishly against his chest. He ripped open the window desperation flooding him at the thought of uncle Vernon hearing the owl. He then squeezed himself through the windows and reached for the owl as far as he could with the bars in front of his window. He felt the owl and before the creature knew what was going on Harry pulled it inside by it's leg making sure to manoeuvre carefully around the bars. The owl practically screeched out, but Harry was quick to close the window making the screech go by unheard, except for Harry and Hedwig though.

Harry released the bird after taking off the letter. The owl flew to the top of his wardrobe looking immensely dissatisfied with its treatment. Harry sighed deeply as he looked apologetic towards the owl before sitting down on his bed.

The letter was from Sirius and so was the owl. Sirius had informed Harry before the last term ended that he would hide out in his old home. He had obviously gotten an owl. Harry didn't know if he should feel happy or not about this news. He loved hearing from Sirius, but at the same time it worried him since getting letters could easily get him in trouble.

Yes Sirius had threatened the Dursley's after third year and it worked up until a certain point. Harry was always quick to reassure others he was fine. Since Sirius never sent another threat the Dursley's thought he had been bluffing or maybe thought he'd died, or at least they hoped he'd died.

Harry was thankful Sirius' owl was rather small. It made pulling the owl inside his room much easier since those horrid bars blocked anything bigger. Hedwig for example would never fit through, much to Harry's annoyance. He really wanted to give Hedwig some freedom. He didn't want her to suffer because of him.

Sighing again Harry read the letter.

_Hey Harry,_

_Well you probably guessed but that scrawny little owl is mine. I couldn't exactly go out and buy one, so Moony went for me. He claims it's a fine owl and it's really quick. Rubbish of course. He just couldn't resist getting me a scrawny owl. _

_Anyway how are you holding up? I know you don't want to talk about it and insist you are fine. I may not know you that long, but I certainly know you are not fine. You're too much like James so I can definitely tell you not coping and I don't blame you. _

_Just try to open up to someone. If not me, then Moony or your friends. _

_Be sure to send me a letter back and I expect a rather detailed one this summer. No more of those vague 'I'm fine, can't wait to get back to Hogwarts' letters. _

_This is probably the longest letter I've ever written. I'll try to convince Dumbledore to let you come. Take care of yourself and hang in there, Pronglet._

_Sirius_

Harry smiled slightly at the new nickname. Sirius had dubbed him Pronglet one day when he, Hermione and Ron went to visit him in that cave during Hogsmeade weekends. Since his dad was named Prongs, Sirius decided it should be something similar. That's how he came up with Pronglet.

Harry brushed a hand through his hair. He would have to reply and he knew if it wasn't detailed enough Sirius would surely come to see him, no matter that the whole Wizarding world was out to get him.

Harry moved beside the bed and pulled loose one of the floorboards. He had made himself a secret hiding place for all his Hogwarts stuff. He grabbed a piece or parchment and some ink before settling back on his bed to think what he would write back.

He decided to write three letters. One to Sirius, one to Ron and one to Hermione. It was too good an opportunity not to. He had access to a pretty small owl that could somewhat pass through the bars before his window. He knew Hermione would get worried if he didn't sent a letter. She always expected something the very first week. He just hoped she wouldn't get suspicious that he sent something this early.

He couldn't get Hedwig out through the window because she was too big and he couldn't sneak her out of the back door, because he got locked in his room whenever he wasn't needed. To think it was only the second day of summer and he was already thinking of solutions to keep Sirius and his friends in the dark.

_Hey Sirius,_

_I'm fine, really. No need to worry. I admit I'm still somewhat haunted by what happened, but I'll handle it. _

_Don't be too hard on Remus. The owl isn't all that bad. A bigger owl does require more attention. Remus was probably trying to buy you an owl of low maintenance. _

_Wish you luck with Dumbledore. I highly doubt he'll let me leave this place. Don't do anything drastic._

_Harry_

_P.S. I've written a letter to both Hermione and Ron. Could you sent them through to them. Hedwig is out hunting._

Sirius' owl flew down to Harry's bed ready to take off again. Harry took some owl treats out of the drawer of his bedside table and gave both the small owl and Hedwig one before writing the next letter.

_Hey Hermione,_

_Just thought I'd sent you a letter since I've got nothing else to do around here. Don't worry I'm fine. Sirius is already on my case, so no need for you to do the same. _

_Not much I can tell you so early in summer though. Don't worry too much about me and enjoy your summer a bit. I know it won't be easy with the current situation._

_I'll probably hear from you soon, if you don't mind please sent your letter with Sirius' owl. It's easier._

_Harry_

Harry stood up and stretched a bit. He felt incredibly stiff. He didn't know if it was from the tension he was constantly feeling for Voldemort thinking when he would come to end his miserable life or the many potions Madam Pomfrey forced down his throat when he…..returned.

He sat back down to write the last letter before his aunt Petunia came to get him.

_Hey Ron,_

_How's everything going at home? Twins bothering you already? _

_I'm doing fine so don't worry. You don't need to write back soon since I'm pretty early with my letter. Didn't have anything better to do and Sirius sent a letter with his new owl so I thought it be easier to sent some letters to go with the scrawny bird. _

_If you do sent a letter, sent it to Sirius so he can sent it with his owl. It's easier._

_Harry_

Harry fuddled the letters and after some fiddling with the bird had them tight on the bird's leg. The small owl hooted annoyed. It was sent with one letter and returned with three. All Harry could do was to give it an apologetic look and an owl treat.

He begged the owl to be silent and then quickly opened the window again. He squeezed himself through as far as he could and stretched his arm that held the owl as far as he could through the bars. He released the owl with a little force so it wouldn't go tumbling down at first. The owl hooted softly before flying off.

Harry quickly closed the window and hid his things again. He gave another try at the objects in his wall, but they didn't budge. Harry gave up just when he heard noises down the hall, which could only mean one thing.

Aunt Petunia was up and about and she would be coming to get him within the next hour or so, probably to make breakfast and then the usual slave labour they called chores. Harry sat down in annoyance and buried his head in his hands. _'If I could just disappear'_ He thought miserably.

* * *

"Don't just stand there! This isn't going to clean itself up!" Aunt Petunia screeched at Harry.

Uncle Vernon was already seated before the telly. Dudley had already taken of to his friend's house. Harry tried not to sigh or scowl as he started cleaning up breakfast.

It didn't take long for Uncle Vernon to start mumbling horrible things about him. Harry was used to them by now and wasn't bothered by them…..much. This of course only give more fuel to Uncle Vernon as he turned his Harry bashing up a notch.

"All a bunch of freaks, not letting you mess up my family…." Uncle Vernon started again.

Harry inwardly sighed. How many times was he going to hear the same things over and over again. Didn't his uncle get that it couldn't possibly bother him anymore what he said. Harry was used to it. He could practically bash himself since he got is memorised.

"Bloody Potters, it's all their fault. They just had to die and get us stuck with you. Bloody useless scum….." Vernon never finished.

The lights in the room flickered dangerously, the telly only showed a red screen instead of the normal black when it malfunctioned and plates floated in mid air. Vernon turned around when he heard Petunia screech in horror. She stood frozen in horror watching Harry.

Vernon watched as well as Harry turned around a furious look on his face. Vernon almost screamed in terror when he saw Harry's eyes darkened strangely. It wasn't that his eyes darkened, but his pupils had dilated so much that the green colour disappeared leaving only the white with a dark circle inside.

Doors suddenly flew open and a cold wind swept through the house making Vernon and Petunia shiver.

"Don't you dare speak about my parents like that!" Harry yelled outraged. He didn't care what Vernon said about him, but no one spoke like that about his parents. He refused to let anyone destroy their memory like that.

"You listen now boy….!" Vernon started in a wavering voice. He never got to finish.

"I'm through!" Harry yelled. A loud bang from upstairs got their attention. Soon enough a white owl came soaring inside the living room. Harry looked at her silently begging her to escape.

"Go to Ron's" He said as she swept passed him. Hedwig left through the back door hooting softly for Harry.

Harry felt his anger slipping away and the floating plates dropped to the ground with a crash. Before Harry could react though, Uncle Vernon had grabbed him by the collar.

"How dare you…you….you….FREAK OF NATURE!" He bellowed at last. He grabbed Harry by the hair and dragged him to his room.

Vernon threw him to the floor and before Harry could get up he kicked him in the ribs. Harry cried out in surprise more than shock. Vernon kicked him a few more times. The last kick hit Harry's head.

Harry's vision blurred and he felt extremely dizzy. He watched through a blurred vision as Uncle Vernon left the room and slammed the door closed so hard it nearly came of its hinges. He heard the familiar clicks and the board being put in place followed by Vernon stomping down the stairs.

Harry didn't bother getting up from the floor. He was exhausted and in pain. Not to mention the blow to his head made him feel sick. He was sure he had a concussion. Harry couldn't believe he had lost control so badly. Sure he blew up Aunt Marge before third year and did some accidental magic as a child, but nothing this severe had ever happened. Harry felt his anger bubble back.

Why was this happening? Wasn't his life messed up enough already!? Now he had to deal with uncontrolled magic as well. A loud cloink had Harry sitting up and looking around his room. Harry immediately noticed the two objects on the ground. He turned to the wall and sure enough there were two deep holes in the wall, but the objects were now laying on the ground.

Harry picked the objects up and stared at them. He had been trying to get them loose using his whole body weight and a simple thought of anger easily ripped them loose from the wall. What was happening with his magic?

Harry felt frustration bubble inside him. Could he ever get a break!? Much to his surprise the objects in his fists dented until they were completely squashed. Harry couldn't handle it anymore and I frustration threw them through the room before collapsing on his bed.

If he had bothered to look where he threw them, he would have seen them sticking in the opposite wall from before.

The last thought Harry had about this horrible day was, that Hedwig had at least gotten out of here.

* * *

"Crucio"!

Harry twisted in agonising pain in bed. He was once again in that horrid nightmare. It wasn't really a nightmare. It was a memory of that horrible day. The day Voldemort returned and Cedric died. The day everything went down hill.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry jolted awake instantly. He was breathing heavily again and this time his scar even hurt. It went like this every night since that day. Every time he dreamed about the graveyard and every time he woke at different moments.

Harry pulled his knees to his chest and lay his head down on top of his knees. He was so tired. So tired of constantly being on Voldemort's radar and now…..there was no way he could escape him again. He was as good as dead.

He didn't know how long he sat there. His mind got restless if possible. Harry thought about Sirius and Ron and Hermione, even Remus was on his mind. All four cared a great deal for him, Harry knew this. He missed them already. As he thought of Sirius he couldn't help but wonder again if he could escape like Sirius did. If Sirius escaped the most feared wizarding prison, the certainly Harry could escape his relatives.

Harry knew it was foolish thinking. There were several things stopping him. One he wasn't an animagus, two Dumbledore wouldn't let him and three Voldemort would probably kill him the moment he was out in the open.

With a heavy heart Harry fell back to sleep, praying beyond anything he wouldn't dream of the graveyard again. The last thing on his mind was Padfoot and the way he always managed to cheer him up.

Unfortunately he did dream about the graveyard. He stood before Voldemort trying to find a way to escape. Harry hid behind a tombstone and could hear Voldemort saying he couldn't escape. Something before him, hidden in the darkness drew his attention. Harry couldn't look away. He watched two white/blue eyes in the darkness. He heard a low growling sound before two fangs appeared. Before he could react he found himself standing before Voldemort again ready to fight.

The two spells collided, but that wasn't what Harry was focused on. His eyes looked passed Voldemort. A big black animal stalked towards him. Before he knew what was happening, the animal jumped at him and he went crashing to the ground. A loud growl sounded beside him before a sudden pain stung through his body.

With a jolt Harry woke up, but found himself unable to move. Sudden pain flared up in his body. Harry tried to keep himself from screaming, but the pain was even worse than a Cruciatus Curse. It felt like his bones were manoeuvring around his body along with his muscles. The pain was excruciating and Harry cried out until he ran out of breath and even then he still cried out in silence. His lungs were burning with the lack of oxygen and he felt like his muscles were ripped to pieces.

Harry fell off his bed and started convulsing on the ground. A warm liquid filled his throat and mouth and instinctively Harry spat it out. A crimson liquid lay on the ground, but Harry didn't care. The pain was too much. He felt like something sharp penetrated the skin on his hands and feet. Harry convulsed more heavily as he spat out more blood. Then all of a sudden he lay still. He let out a breath, but his chest didn't rise anymore.

Outside Harry's window a small owl screeched to be let in, holding letters from Sirius and Harry's friends. Letters Harry would probably never receive.

* * *

Well people, this is my first attempt at a Harry Potter story. Didn't plan on the first chapter being so long. Pretty proud of myself. Hope you'll all find the chapter any good.

Please read and review. I didn't plan on making a cliff-hanger. I hope whoever reads this story won't stop after this cliff-hanger. Thanks for reading and please also review!


	2. To Fight Losing Battles

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I know it's hard to believe, I'm still recovering from the news.

_Summary: After fourth year. Harry thinks he survived the worst, that is until his magic goes haywire and he finds himself stuck in his animagus form. Through turn of events Harry ends up with Remus. The Order and his friends think he's missing unaware that Harry is extremely close. Can Harry make them figure his presence out? Does he even want to be found?_

Missing Right In Front of You

Chapter 2 – To Fight Losing Battles

Life at The Burrow was quiet, for once. Why it was quiet, well it was still very early in the morning. Mrs. Weasley wouldn't get up for at least two hours and the Weasley children would take about three hours from now. Mr. Weasley had to spent the night at work since his work was overloading, again.

A white blur was coming closer to The burrow. It flew around the house and landed on the windowsill of Ron Weasley's room. It was anything but hard to find his window. His snores could be heard for miles, especially for an owl.

Ron was oblivious to the new arrival. The white owl screeched loudly and surprisingly this awoke the snoring boy. Ron was on his feet in seconds looking around frantically as if expecting an attack.

After several minutes Ron calmed down. _'Bloody hell. Must have been dreaming' _Ron thought. Ron had been jumpy ever since he came home. Though part of it was because of what had happened at Hogwarts last year, it wasn't the main reason for his jumpiness. It were the twins, Fred and George.

Ever since they got home they had secluded themselves and whenever someone passed them by, they would go silent. Ron could just feel their excitement. Since then Ron had been on his toes expecting to be pranked every second.

A loud screech filled his room and Ron jumped around in shock. His eyes locked on the white owl sitting somewhat impatient on the windowsill. It took a few moments for Ron's foggy mind to register what he was seeing.

"Hedwig?" He wondered out loud. His answer was another loud screech. "Shush! Hedwig. You'll wake everyone up" Ron gestured frantically with his hands.

Hedwig grew silent, but looked at him as if he had offended her. Ron quickly searched his room for some owl treats and quickly gave some to Hedwig while apologising. Hedwig went to sleep when she finished them.

Ron looked confused at the sleeping owl. He couldn't remember Harry planning to sent Hedwig to him. Hedwig didn't bring a letter and she wasn't the kind of owl to lose a letter, so either she came out of her own free will or Harry sent her over. But why would Harry sent her without telling anyone he would sent her over?

'_Probably forgot to mention it' _Ron's mind made up. A wide yawn later and Ron crawled back into bed forgetting about his worry about Hedwig.

* * *

A scrawny looking owl was flying circles over number four Privet Drive. Why? It had letters to deliver, but it couldn't get inside. It did before, but this time Harry was unable to let him in.

Harry still lay on the ground in his room, but the fact he was on the ground wasn't the most worrying fact. No, something else had happened to the young wizard. Something that would divide people's opinions in pride and worry, Sirius being the proud one.

Two slits of bright green became visible in the darkness of the room. It was unnaturally dark, like no moonlight would dare shine inside. The emerald eyes slowly scanned his line of sight. A painful groan sounded through the room and the emerald eyes closed again.

After a few minutes Harry opened his eyes again and much to his surprise, he could see very clearly. _Did I forget to take off my glasses? _Was Harry's first thought. It was then he realised he was on the ground. Sighing inward Harry made to push himself up from the ground, but…………..he couldn't move.

Harry squinted his eyes and trailed his arms and legs to see if something was holding him down. The fact was he didn't have arms and legs. Shock, worry, fear, surprise, excitement and anxiety rushed through him at the sight of his body. Before Harry could even think of what to do a thumping feeling filled his mind.

It felt similar to a thumping head ache, yet different. It wasn't painful _much_ and it almost felt like it wasn't really there yet it was. Harry felt confused and tired, not to mention his entire body hurt like crazy. Harry could feel his mind becoming fuzzy and the thumping feeling became a sound in his head.

Fear suddenly overruled his tiredness and Harry fought against it. He tried to tune out the thumping sound, but it didn't seem to work. It only increased its volume causing Harry to moan in a mixture of pain and annoyance. He wanted to give in, but something inside him demanded he fought this feeling or sound or whatever it was.

As the sound in his head increased in volume, memories came to the forefront of his mind. Cedric getting hit by the Killing Curse, Wormtail cutting into his arm, Voldemort rising from the cauldron, him escaping the graveyard, Cedric's father crying at the sight of his dead son, Dumbledore fawning over him instead of helping the distraught father, Dumbledore's expression when Harry showed the cut on his arm.

It was all his fault! Cedric died because of him, Voldemort came back because of him, Dumbledore was concerned for him when he didn't deserve it! Harry's grieve and guilt overwhelmed him. His mind couldn't handle the amount of guilt he was feeling.

The thumping sound increased and now Harry could feel it again. It now felt like an actual head ache. His vision became blurry and Harry knew he had lost whatever battle he had just been fighting. He felt his body go numb and slump onto the ground. Darkness crept into his vision and mind. The thumping sound seemed far away and he barely felt it anymore before darkness finally took him.

A low growl reverberated through the small room. The sound of something shuffling slightly on the ground followed. Then with a smooth swish the elegant black creature rose on four paws. It flicked its tail a few times as if trying to steady itself, like a newborn creature trying to find its balance.

Sirius' scrawny owl had flown down to the window again and screeched in confusion and slight fear at the sight before it. Its feathers stood on end as its instincts were screaming at it to fly away and fast. However the owl refused to do that, for now. It was sent here to deliver letters and that's what the scrawny owl intended to do. The fact that the receiver was now a black panther didn't matter, right?

The panther hadn't noticed the owl yet or it simply ignored it. Its tail hung loosely behind it with the end slightly curled up. It extended its claws on the floor savouring the sound of ripping through the floor covering (carpet). After a minute it retracted its claws and flung its head up high. Its whiskers vibrated slightly as it sensed the air around itself.

The panther lowered his head as it stalked forward taking in scents. Its eyes were either focused on a direction of a certain scent or scanning all around itself. It turned from the window and headed to the door. It only took about two or three steps for the animal to reach the other side of the room.

A slightly louder growl then the first escaped the panther. It didn't like this close environment. It was too small. Growling softly it started pacing the room, but even that didn't calm the animal. Their was barely enough space to turn its body. This tight space felt threatening. There was no way to escape.

The panther lowered its body to a crouch, it eyes focused heavily on the window. With an angry growl the panther pushed itself up and it jumped straight at the window. However the window was too small for it. The panther turned a quarter at the last possible moment landing with four paws against the wall and pushing back off to land on the ground.

A loud thud sounded through the room as the big panther landed heavily on its four paws. It snarled dangerously before jumping on the bed. Carefully it stepped paw for paw on the bedside table and snarled at the window. It stopped abruptly.

The panther watched closely as a bird creature flew by. After a few seconds it appeared again, yet now it stayed in front of the window. Hunger taking over, the panther raised a paw and tried to scratch the owl. Its claws only scratched the window. An angry snarl escaped the animal as it jumped down and started pacing again.

The owl screeched in annoyance and fear causing the panther to grow angrier. It paced more vigorously which caused it to nearly bump into every wall or furniture. It heaved up its head and growled so loud the window shook slightly.

The scrawny owl of Sirius drew back from the window in a loud screech, just before the window shattered into pieces. A loud growl caused the scrawny owl to turn around in fear ready to fly away. The letters hanging below the owl made the turning difficult. With a swift dive the owl dived into the room hoping to get out as quick as possible. This sudden move caused the owl to miss seeing the light being turned on, in the other room of the house.

The panther watched in startling confusion at the shattered window. It took a few steps forward only to jump back abruptly holding one front paw in the air. It bent its head and clawed slightly with its teeth at the bottom of its paw. A piece of glass from the window fell to the floor covered in some crimson liquid. The panther made a whining sound at the pain that flared up momentarily.

A certain prey flying into the room made the panther forget about the pain in its paw. It crouched slightly watching the owl fly overhead and circle around. Swift and smoothly the panther jumped up fangs and claws at the ready. Swatting its paw high it slammed the owl against the wall. The small creature slumped to the ground momentarily stunned.

The panther growled softly in anticipation and stalked in front of the owl. It raised one paw and made to swat at the owl to see if it was still alive. With a eardrum shattering screech the owl fluttered up causing the paw to catch the letters instead of the owl. The letters ripped loose from the owl's leg pulling the scrawny creature to lose some altitude. It was enough for the panther's other paw to hit the owl. Again the creature went flying towards a wall, yet it managed to stop itself in time since the swat wasn't as hard as before.

A loud banging noise a little away from the room distracted the panther, which gave the scrawny owl an opening to escape. The panther turned around at the sound of frantic flapping, but it was already to late. The scrawny owl escaped through the window with most of its feathers.

The panther growled softly in disappointment before a clattering sound at the other side of the door got its attention. It turned to face the door and crouched in the slightest. Its claws extended and ripped into the letters scattered on the ground.

Finally the door opened and a fat looking man stood in the doorway. His eyes squinted in the darkness of the room trying to see something, but not seeing it. The panther didn't move and kept its eyes in barely a slit so the green would not be noticeable. Being black had its advantages.

"Boy! You better not be doing those freaky business of yours! I'm warning you! Show yourself!" Vernon Dursley all but yelled into the room.

A low but clear growl was his only responds. Vernon tensed as fear and anxiety filled him whole. Out of nowhere two bright emerald orbs appeared followed by an incredible heavy weight against his body causing him to fall flat on his back. He almost felt his lungs crimp under the pressure on his body. Lights turning on and a loud female scream later and the heavy pressure disappeared.

Vernon quickly sat up, as fast as he possibly could with all his fat and locked eyes with two bright emerald eyes with vertical length pupils. It took the fat man a moment to realise he was looking at a panther.

The panther didn't wait for the man to act. The woman was still screaming which was excruciating for its hearing. With a snarl at the man, the panther ran passed the screaming woman and smoothly made its way down the stairs. It stopped at the front door and looked quizzically at it. Loud voices came closer.

"Vernon hurry up! Kill it!" Petunia screeched behind her husband as they made their way down the stairs. Their thoughts were that this 'beast' had eaten Harry and even though they were thankful, it posed a threat and needed to be killed.

The panther turned its head to see the fat man and the screeching woman appear at the stairs. It was however the scent of steal and lead that caused the panther to grow frightened. The fat man aimed the gun ready to fire. The panther squinted its eyes and showed its fangs.

Suddenly as if a gift from the heavens, the front door burst open slamming into the wall. The panther didn't waist a second as it sprinted outside into the darkness, barely missing the bullet fired seconds too late.

* * *

The sun started to rise placing a yellow glow over the world. It was beautiful to see, yet Sirius Black could not enjoy the sun rise. This was because Sirius Black wasn't allowed to go outside. He was stuck in his old family house, Grimmauld Place 12.

Stuck because he was a fugitive. He was found guilty of murdering muggles and his supposed best friend and he was the first person to escape the wizarding prison, Azkaban. But the truth was that Sirius Black was innocent of those crimes, except the escaping the prison.

Still Sirius wasn't really bothered by the Ministry's hunt for him nor the fact he had to stay inside. Sirius could only focus on his godson, Harry Potter. His godson was in danger and he couldn't relax knowing this.

Sirius had made the mistake of going after Peter nearly fourteen years ago. So this time Sirius would think of Harry first and everything else came after that.

Sirius had been trying to make his old home liveable and right after that he spend most of his time either with the Order of the Phoenix or thinking about what he could say to convince Dumbledore to let Harry come there, away from the Dursley's.

Even though Harry had sent a letter, Sirius wasn't reassured. The fact that Harry wrote Hermione and Ron a letter so soon already was unusual and made his head spin. Were the Dursley's that bad that he was already seeking contact to forget his problems momentarily?

"Padfoot!" Sirius snapped out of his thoughts and stared at his sandy brown haired friend who had a slightly concerned expression.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"You alright?" Remus asked still a concerned expression on his face which deepened at the lack of response.

A somewhat normal person would say they weren't really fine, but Sirius wasn't normal. He was a Gryffindor, born in a Slytherin family. He became an animagus in his early school years and one of his friends was a werewolf. One of his friends betrayed them all and his best friend was murdered leaving only Sirius's godson. He was wrongly imprisoned in the most horrendous prison ever and then became a fugitive and his godson was in terrible danger.

"I'm fine" Sirius said after a while. Remus closed his mouth stopping himself from asking Sirius if he was fine again when he finally received an answer.

"You're not fine. What's on your mind?" Remus tried to get his friend to open up a bit.

Every time Sirius was in thoughts, it looked as if he was back in Azkaban. His eyes open, but without recollection and distant. It had taken Remus some time to get over the shock of seeing his friend without that troubling glow in his eyes, the one that meant he was planning a prank.

Sirius sighed not wanting to respond. He felt out of it today. He was mostly fine, not his old happy self, but he was free in a way and away from Dementors. However there were days when Azkaban seemed much closer. He would feel miserable, sad, guilty and only talked when he had to.

Remus knew Sirius had never really dealt with everything. He had just pushed everything aside and only thought of getting Wormtail and…….protecting Harry. Remus knew that was what Sirius was thinking about now.

He agreed with getting Harry away from the Dursley's, but he also knew Dumbledore had a good reason for placing Harry there besides the fact they were his only living blood relatives. Dumbledore had to have a different reason because the excuse of blood relatives was, to put it bluntly, utter crap. James had written in his will that Harry were to go to Sirius is anything happened to them and knowing James, he would have written clearly that with no circumstance, was Harry to be placed with Lily's sister.

"We'll talk some other time. Lets go, the meeting will start in a few minutes" Sirius sighed in relieve when Remus said that. It meant he would drop the talk, for now though.

* * *

"Well I think we can rule out the Ministry"

"The hell we can! He's got spies everywhere including inside the Ministry. Don't simply assume things!"

"Moody's right. I believe he's got more spies in the Ministry than anywhere else"

"I agree. However something doesn't seem right"

"Would you care to explain this, Remus?"

"Of course sir. If what Voldemort searches is inside the Ministry, then why hasn't he created a diversion yet? If he attacked somewhere then the attention of the Ministry would be with the attack giving his spies an opening to get what he needs, if it's inside the Ministry"

"Yes, but he wants to keep himself a secret for now, that's probably why he hasn't come out yet. He's taking advantage of the Minster's idiocy. He wants the Wizarding world to believe Fudge, so he can move freely"

"Yes, but he wouldn't have to show himself to attack something. He might not even need to use his Death Eaters. If I'm not mistaken the Dementors are getting restless. It's obvious he's taking back control over them. A Dementor attack would work just as well as a Death Eater attack and wouldn't rise a suspicion like his Death Eaters would"

"I agree with you Remus. However until Voldemort makes a move, we can only guess his plans"

"So we wait?!"

"Yes, we wait and keep an eye open"

"Indeed. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" A few members jumped slightly from the sudden rise in volume.

"Well then, I guess the meeting has come to an end. Thank you for…." Dumbledore never finished his sentence.

A bright green flame appeared in the middle of the room. Everyone stared at it in nervous fascination. Dumbledore waved his wand over it and the flame parted into letters. Gasps filled the room in shock, disbelieve and even fear.

"Everyone capable please make your way there. Make haste!" Dumbledore spoke with authority. Only a few could hear the concern in his voice.

Chairs scraped the floor as people got up quickly to get to the fireplace or outside to apparate. While this was happening Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet Phoenix, appeared. Dumbledore had quickly scribbled a note and gave it to Fawkes.

"Be quick my friend. We'll need those Aurors" He spoke softly. Fawkes disappeared in an orange and red flame with the note.

Sirius stood up quickly intending to head towards the fireplace. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned around to see Dumbledore.

"I'm sorry Sirius. You can not go. Fudge's Aurors will be there. We can not risk it" Dumbledore spoke.

Normally Sirius would argue, but he knew time was short and Dumbledore's pleading eyes bore into his soul with authority. With a heavy heart he nodded. Everyone left, Remus giving Sirius a pat on the back as he walked by. A sort of comfort and promise to return.

Sirius stood alone in the living room. He turned around and faced the still floating green flame. The words clear to see:

HOGSMEADE UNDER ATTACK!

* * *

Still in the early morning the people of Hogsmeade started to wake. Shops were opened, people greeted each other as they got ready for another day of hard work. Hogwarts was in summer break now, so there wouldn't be many children around unless they came with a family trip of some sort.

Madame Rosmerta was busy taking the chairs off the tables in her pub, The Three Broomsticks. Sun rays were slipping through the bottom of her curtains as if asking to be invited. Finishing with the chairs she did indeed that. She opened the curtains to let in some light, though the pub would usually be dark no matter how much light came in.

She screamed and stumbled back in surprise and fear. A cloaked man stood before the window. It didn't take long before more screams followed hers all throughout the town. Madame Rosmerta jumped when the door was banged open and made an imprint in her wall. Her eyes fixed their gaze on the cloaked man that stepped inside. _'How could I have not noticed something was off with the town?'_

The man, dressed in a black cloak with a silver mask on his face, stretched out his arm and roughly grabbed Madame Rosmerta at the collar of her shirt. Without wasting a second's pause he dragged her outside and threw her on the ground.

Madame Rosmerta warily looked around her hoping this action would not be punished. All around her people of Hogsmeade littered the ground and each and every one of them, had a Death Eater standing above them. It was like an army of Death Eaters had come to Hogsmeade. From above one would only see black dots with so many Death Eaters in town.

Several screams rang through the town as Death Eaters were obviously torturing the residents of Hogsmeade. Madame Rosmerta, fearing for herself, looked up at the Death Eater standing above her. A fist to her face was the response followed by a devilish laugh.

Just as she wondered why they were here, the answer became clear. "Tell me where Harry Potter is!"

Madame Rosmerta didn't dare look up and kept her gaze on the ground. They were after Harry Potter. It didn't really surprise her, but they had never tried such an approach to get to him. Her silence didn't fall well with the Death Eater and she paid for it.

"Crucio!" A strong and gruff voice spoke loud enough so she could hear it above the screams of the people around her.

Pain filled her body and mind as she let out a terrifying scream. Pain like thousand knifes in her skull and body, pain like her insides were literally on fire, pain so indescribable that all she could do was scream her throat soar. And she wasn't the only one.

The people of Hogsmeade were all questioned about Harry Potter's whereabouts. It wasn't a secret he lived with muggle relatives, but where they lived exactly, _was_.

Finally the curse was lifted and the question repeated. She remained silent, not even telling them that she didn't know. Even if she knew, she would not give them what they wanted nor would she let a young boy be hunted down.

As expected the curse returned full force and she continued screaming until no sound was left. The rest of Hogsmeade wasn't much better. No one knew where exactly Harry Potter lived. Only Dumbledore and a few close to him knew.

That's when she realised what they were planning. This attack wasn't to get answers from the people of Hogsmeade. It was to lure out those that _knew_!

Before she could even consider a way of warning, many bangs rang through the area of Hogsmeade. Someone had apparated to Hogsmeade.

Bright flashes and shouting filled the area and soon the screams of the residents of Hogsmeade stopped. Madame Rosmerta felt herself being pulled up to her feet and almost thrown inside her pub. She scrambled to her feet and came face to face with an Auror.

"Stay inside!" the Auror practically yelled at her before dashing out the door to join the fight. Madame Rosmerta didn't even get a chance to tell him why the Death Eaters were here.

She dared looking out the window and watched as Aurors and other wizards and witches, probably followers of Dumbledore, were fighting to protect Hogsmeade. But she knew, it wasn't Hogsmeade that needed protection, well it did, but the true objective, was Harry Potter.

* * *

Sirius was pacing the floor in his living room contemplating if he should go against Dumbledore's orders. He usually wasn't really bothered with being unable to leave the house, well a little maybe but it was tons better than locked in Azkaban. He just really wanted to help. He wasn't the kind of person who just took a backseat in these things. He was a bloody Auror before everything happened.

"Mr. Black! Which rooms are available in case I require their use?!" A strict woman's voice called down the stairs urgently.

Sirius sighed deeply before trudging to the Hall and practically screaming back to her. "If they're not locked, they're available!" was his answer.

He expected a strict reprimand immediately, but unfortunately Mrs. Black beat the strict woman to it.

"TRAITORS! MUDBLOOD LOVERS! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, YOU FILTHY…..!" Sirius had managed to pull the curtains back before she finished.

Hating his life momentarily he turned around wanting to trash something, but instead he jumped as a very angry Madame Pomfrey stood before him, though she did look slightly sorry. It wasn't exactly her 'calling' and more Sirius 'screaming' that woke Mrs. Black, but still she was a part of it.

"All rooms unlocked are available, you said?" She asked with that reprimanding tone making Sirius feel like he had been caught playing a prank in his Hogwarts years.

"Yeah" He replied a bit uncertain. Not feeling calm enough to truly apologise, he trudged passed her and went back to the living room with the fireplace, waiting for either a message or a person.

Madame Pomfrey was called before Dumbledore left to help in Hogsmeade. If Order members were injured they'd have to flue or apparate back to Grimmauld Place 12 to get medical treatment. Dumbledore only lowered a few wards during such attacks so only Order members could apparate or flue inside the manor.

"You could also help me set things up instead of pacing a hole in the floor" Madame Pomfrey said with that strict voice as if she was ordering him to just help her already.

"Not much to do" Sirius responded.

"Not much to do?! Let me tell you what needs to be done…" But before she could start up the long list a loud screech rang from upstairs.

Sirius dashed up the stairs, both happy for an exit from Pomfrey and anxious for the news his owl would bring from Harry.

Seconds later Sirius dashed into the owl chamber. It was a chamber practically in the middle of the house on the highest floor. It was magically adjusted to let Order owls inside and other owls just flew by the house. The Order owls practically flew through several rooms until they reached the owl chamber. Of course Hedwig could get inside as well.

Sirius stared at his scrawny owl. If anything it still looked scrawny. However something wasn't right. The owl did anything but sit still. It flapped its wings before floating a few inches above the sitting bar and landing again. When it did stay put on the bar, it kept pulling up one leg and then switching to the other again.

The loud, panic screeching was a big give away as well. Sirius approached his scrawny owl who seemed oblivious to the arrival. It turned its head towards Sirius and with a loud screech nearly dropped to the floor before catching itself and flying back up on the bar.

Sirius knew something was definitely wrong with his owl. He reached out to it but only got a bite for the effort.

"Bloody bird!" He howled in pain.

The bird seemed to nearly get a heart attack from the rise in volume of his voice. It was then that Sirius noticed all the feathers sticking in unnatural directions. The owl looked like Sirius did when he had a bad hair day.

Fear filled Sirius when he realised his owl came from Harry. Was Harry in danger? Did something happen? Was he hurt, right now?!

A loud bang sounded through the house and Sirius knew what that meant. Apparation. Knowing he didn't have any time to contact Harry right now, he left his owl in the chamber and rushed down to see what had happened.

* * *

Professor Severus Snape walked through dark and glum hallways. He was wearing a silver mask and was dressed in a black cloak. He was in Riddle Manor, Voldemort's hide out, for now. He, as all others, was summoned back here and it didn't mean a good thing. Not to mention it was already late evening meaning Voldemort had not called them back directly after the failed attack. Perhaps the waiting was another form of torture for the Death Eaters.

The mission had failed. The mission was to lure out Dumbledore and the few people who knew about Harry's whereabouts. That part was successful. The less successful part was that the Death Eaters failed to capture them and torture them for the information. Even if the right people were there with the information, the Death Eaters had failed in retrieving the information. This summoning would be hell.

Snape was one of the last to arrive. He had not been a part of the attack. Voldemort knew, or rather believed, that his position as 'his' spy would be jeopardised if he joined in the attack. Same went for Dumbledore, so Snape had taken a backseat and waited for the summoning to find out how it went. Of course he already knew as Dumbledore had sent him a message before Voldemort summoned him.

In the dark halls with scarce lighting, Snape was barely noticeable with his black cloak. His silver mask of course was rather visible. He stopped in front of a huge double oak doors. The entrance to Voldemort's summoning room, the room he spent most of his time in.

The doors opened of its own accord permitting Snape entrance. He walked calmly inside as if he had nothing to fear. In fact he had everything to fear. Punishment for not knowing which members had the information, being found out to be on Dumbledore's side, him practically knowing where Harry lived… so much he often asked himself how he could keep such a calm demeanour.

Yes he knew where Harry lived, exactly. It was by mistake though. Dumbledore knew it would be too dangerous if he knew. It was. Voldemort had used Legilimence on every new member. Snape luckily managed to keep the Dark Lord from finding out. Even though Dumbledore wasn't fond of the idea, he had done it.

Dumbledore had obliviated the information only. Snape still knew he once knew the information, but the information itself was gone from his mind. The memory of hearing the information was simply a black out from the point where the information was said.

If he hadn't Voldemort would have used Legilimence on him and using Occlumency against it would only rise suspicion from the Dark Lord.

Snape stepped before Voldemort and bowed deeply on one knee. A second later he found himself standing somewhat at the back watching fellow Death Eaters being submitted under the torture curse. The few who foolishly said to know the people who had the information were killed without a second thought.

The screams rang through Snape's mind making him almost feel the curse himself. But it was nothing compared to the anger in Voldemort's voice.

"SURROUNDED BY FOOLS IS WHAT I AM! I WANT HARRY POTTER!"

* * *

"NO ENOUGH OF THIS! YOU KNOW HARRY ISN'T SAFE AND AS HIS GODFATHER I DEMAND YOU BRING HIM HERE WHERE HE IS SAFE! I DON'T CARE FOR YOU _BLOODY_ REASONS!"

"Sirius!" Mrs. Weasley tried to reprimand, but it fell on deaf ears, well more like on an over pumping, angry godfather's ears.

Sirius's worry had finally pushed him over the edge completely when he heard what the Death Eaters wanted. The exact address of Harry Potter. His godson would NOT be safe in a muggle town, he just knew it.

"Sirius trust me, Harry is sa…"

"NO I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT DUMBLEDORE! HE'S NOT SAFE AND I DON'T TRUST YOU WITH _MY_ GODSON _ANYMORE_!" Sirius was fuming now.

"A compromise then!" Remus interjected before Dumbledore could speak and enrage Sirius even more, although that didn't take much lately.

"WHAT!?" Sirius snapped not truly having heard what was said exactly.

"A compromise. Just listen. I know you must have a good reason for Harry staying with the Dursleys, Sirius SHUT UP!" Sirius did shut up and Remus continued. "… but I also feel much concern and worry for this. If by some chance, which I say was big this morning, Harry is found then he has no magical support but his own skills and knowledge. Muggles can't help him…"

"And those muggles won't!" Sirius interjected. He shut up soon after that as Remus continued.

"…we can. He'll have back up here if anything were to happen. Let him come here, if only a few weeks before school. He'll be happy and we won't have to worry 24/7"

Silence filled the room as Dumbledore thought. Sirius would probably want to yell and shout some more, but Remus's pleading and somewhat strict gaze kept him in place.

"Alright. Harry can come here" Dumbledore said softly, defeated. "I'll sent a team to get him on his birthday"

Sirius's mood which had risen highly, dropped down several notched, more like hit rock bottom. The summer was only going for three days now. That meant it was practically a full month before Harry was brought to him, where he was _safe_.

Remus saw Sirius' reaction drop to rock bottom and tried to prevent a full-blown war between Sirius and Dumbledore. "Sir isn't is better to let Harry come a little sooner. Voldemort is already taking such chances to find Harry, wouldn't it be safer?"

Dumbledore sighed and closed his eyes. Sirius could almost boil an egg on his face from all the anger he was building up.

"Alright, in two weeks I'll sent a team to retrieve Harry, but no less. Harry's arrangement is necessary" with that Dumbledore bid his goodbye's and left the Order Headquarters.

Sirius brightened up a bit at this decision, though he still wasn't fully satisfied. Still this was much better. Without another word he dashed back up the stairs intending on sending a letter to Harry with the news while the Order members left one by one.

Sirius rushed into the owl chamber with parchment and a quill with ink. He quickly scribbled a quick and excited note before straightening up and facing his scrawny owl.

"Hey come here, I need you to deliver this to Harry" The reaction he got was one out of a million.

His scrawny owl screeched loudly before flying straight out the door into the house leaving a few feathers behind.

After the momentary confusion, Sirius dashed after the bird. He chased it all the way down the hall and luckily the bird didn't wake his dear old mom. The scrawny owl flew into the living room. Aloud screech followed before Sirius arrived. He froze at the sight.

His scrawny owl was stuck with his feet in Hermione's bushy hair. The whole Weasley clan was around her (A/N: minus Bill, Charlie and Percy) trying to get the bird loose. It kept struggling and flapping its wings frantically causing Hermione more pain.

When Remus cast a spell to disentangle the bird from Hermione, Sirius snapped out fo his stupor. He grabbed the bird before it flew away and turned apologetically towards Hermione.

"Sorry about that. The bird's a mess" He said with a small smile. Luckily Hermione smiled back as she plucked at her hair.

Before another word was said the bird escaped from Sirius and flew up to the highest furniture they had all the while screeching. The Weasley clan watched confused and a little amused as Sirius started shouting at the bird, who turned its back on him and started shivering or more like shaking.

"Sirius, you're scaring it. What's the matter?" Remus asked his friend trying to prevent owl murder.

"The bloody bird won't deliver this letter to Harry!" Sirius bit out towards the bird though the answer was for Remus. He kept his gaze firmly on the bird that was messing with his mood.

"Why not use Hedwig, since she's here now" Ron Weasley suggested.

Sirius turned sharply as did most of the others and they looked at Ron confused. "Hedwig? She's here?" Hermione asked the question first.

Before Ron could respond the white she-owl appeared from upstairs, obviously having flown to Headquarters and entering through the owl chamber, which was still open from Sirius' mad dash after his owl.

"Yeah, she showed up yesterday and very early in the morning as well. I think Harry forgot to mention he would sent Hedwig to stay at my place" Ron answered when attention returned to him.

"It's normal for Harry to sent Hedwig away for the summer?" Remus asked. Ron nodded.

"He's done it before. He's afraid his uncle might chuck her out the window or worse grill her" Ron said shivering at the end.

Forgetting his worry about this for simple desire to sent his letter, Sirius took Hedwig from Ron and asked her to deliver this to Harry. Hedwig hooted kindly before flying of. Sirius could hardly wait for the two weeks to be over.

"Now that, that's settled. Lets get you lot settled in" Sirius said with a smile. His godson would soon be with him, where he was safe and loved. Things would work out just fine.

* * *

The sun was still visible, but it was already late in the evening. Among the semi-darkness two bright, emerald eyes stood out quite well. The black panther was lounging in a tree appearing to be comfortable and calm.

It was not. The adrenaline was gone from its body, but the shock and fear were ever present. The gunshot still rang in the back of its mind. Its very life was threatened and like any animal that did nothing for their peace of mind.

The panther had run as fast as possible. The strange surroundings confused the animal, but in a strange way seemed familiar. It had continued running on pure instinct and adrenaline. It needed tog et away from that house and the fat man or it would be its death.

It found a forest pretty easily and after running as deep as possible, the panther climbed into a tree to catch a breather. The next day it had stalked around the area searching water and a meal. It had found a small creek and eaten a rabbit. After that it had kept itself to a tree.

The panther suddenly snarled loudly losing its balance and falling on the ground below, hard. It growled in pain and tired to get up but the panther sank back down immediately. It kept growling and whining and placing its paws over its head. Its tail was swishing fast.

It was in pain. So much pain and all in its head. The semi-darkness around it became much darker as the pain began to dull. With its last energy the panther crept forward as much as possible. It dropped down again completely numb now.

A lone sun ray shone on it before it was blocked by something. The panther shared a last glance upwards to see something or someone towering over it. Fear overwhelmed it again ,but it was too late. The pain had weakened it too badly and the panther closed its eyes and welcomed the dark.

* * *

Well that was chapter two. I hope you all enjoyed it. It turned out much longer than I thought so I'm very happy. You might notice it was a bit rushed towards the end of the chapter, I'm sorry for that. I just really wanted to finish the chapter.

I've got two more things to ask/say, so please **read this**:

_1._ I'd like everyone to vote on my poll on my profile page.

_2._ I need some cool/amazing/wicked or whatever names for Harry's animagus form. However not just any names. First of all they need to fit with his animal, not too important if possible much loved.  
Secondly and **most important,** the name needs to be a name that can later be used as Harry's nickname, just like Sirius' nickname is Padfoot, the name of his animagus form. So no normal name, like Damian (I've read a story of Harry a panther called Damian), because that's a normal name that can't really be a nickname. This is a real important issue, because without a proper name I can't finish the third chapter!

I appreciate the help and reviews which I thank everyone for again, so please review, help and vote on my poll. 'Till next chapter!


	3. Losing Hope

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I know it's hard to believe, I'm still recovering from the news.

_Summary: After fourth year. Harry thinks he survived the worst, that is until his magic goes haywire and he finds himself stuck in his animagus form. Through turn of events Harry ends up with Remus. The Order and his friends think he's missing unaware that Harry is extremely close. Can Harry make them figure his presence out? Does he even want to be found?_

Missing Right In Front of You

Chapter 3 – Losing Hope

"Fred! George! Get back here!" Mrs. Weasley's voice shouted angrily from downstairs. Sirius rushed back down and almost ran straight into the raging woman.

"Hush will you! You'll wake her up!" He forced himself not to shout back causing it to come out in a low growl.

"Wake who?" Mrs. Weasley asked anger and annoyance still in her voice.

"My mother" Sirius begrudgingly said. Mrs. Weasley stared at him bewildered.

"You're mother? Isn't she….?"

"Yes she is, but that hasn't stopped her" Sirius almost snapped at the woman, but he stopped himself in time. Seeing the confused expression on her face he knew he had to explain. He cursed under his breath. He didn't want this now as he needed to talk to Ron.

A loud explosion right in the hallway behind Sirius and Mrs. Weasley gained everyone's attention. Sirius cursed knowing this would definitely wake his mother.

The Weasley twins, Fred and George, were waiting at the top of the stairs for their mother's screaming. They got quite the surprise when someone else started screaming.

"TRAITORS! MUDBLOODS! FILTH IN MY HOUSE! GET OUT! GET OUT FILTH! TRAITORS, MUDBLOODS (DIRTYING) MY HOUSE!"

The twins froze as they heard the horrible screaming, obviously a woman, a very angry woman. Ron, Hermione and Ginny came to see as well. The five teens said froze at the top of the stairs as they watched Sirius almost attacking a painting on the wall. They saw a glimpse of the painting before Sirius managed to shut it. He turned round awkwardly as Mrs. Weasley came into the hall followed by Mr. Weasley who came thundering down the stairs.

"Well, now you've all met my mother" He said a little awkwardly as he smiled. Everyone gaped at him unable to decide whether to believe him or think he had finally gone nuts.

"How…?" Mr. Weasley was the first to find his voice and asked the first question to his mind. However al he managed was a simple word, but it was enough to understand what he wanted to ask.

"Well she did what all those Headmasters of Hogwarts did. After they died making a painting conserving their former selves. Unfortunately my mother isn't the most flattering woman, the bitch" Sirius said grimly.

"Sirius!" Mrs. Weasley apprehended him for his choice of words. Sirius shrugged his shoulders at her and moved towards the stairs.

"Kindly be quiet near this hallway and everything will be fine" He said as he went upstairs. The five teens scrambled back to their rooms to finish unpacking.

Sirius looked in every room as if checking everyone was where they were supposed to be and then slipped into Ron's room and closed the door leaving it open just a crack. Ron turned around and nearly jumped out of skin seeing Sirius standing there. He obviously hadn't heard him.

"Calm down. I need to talk to you" Sirius said in a hushed voice. Ron looked worried now, but nodded nonetheless.

"Okay, what about?" Ron asked nervously. Sirius noticed his nervous behaviour and realised that Ron feared he had done something wrong.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble or anything. It's about Hedwig" He said. Ron perked up at that and now looked confused. "Well also about Harry" He added with a distant look in his eyes as he thought about Harry.

"You want to know why he sent Hedwig to me?" Ron guessed. Sirius looked up and Ron sat down followed by Sirius. "Well as I said before, Harry is worried his uncle will harm her or anything. It's just a precaution. His uncle hasn't ever done anything to her, but Harry really cares for her and would do anything to keep her safe. Even…" Ron broke of feeling worried for Harry.

"Even if it means he can't contact anyone" Sirius finished for him. Ron nodded. Sirius was considering whether or not to tell Ron about Harry's strange request in his letter when Ron beat him to it.

"I'm worried about something Harry wrote in his letter. I'm not sure if it means anything, I'm probably overreacting. I even forgot about it, but now I remembered it"

"Let me guess, he asked you to sent your letters with my owl" Sirius more like stated than asked. Ron's eyes widened at that.

"How did you know that?!"

"He asked me the same thing" Sirius answered and before he could continue another voice entered the conversation.

"Me too" Sirius and Ron jumped up and saw Hermione entering and closing the door behind her. "He asked me the same thing in his letter. Said it was easier" She added.

"Now I'm really worried" Ron exclaimed.

Sirius was lost in thoughts. What did this mean? Why would Harry ask that, unless he was in trouble? Why was it easier? Perhaps because he sent Hedwig away? But that would mean Hedwig might have been in danger or at least Harry feared she was. So that would mean Harry might be in trouble or danger as well! Of course he was already in danger, but immediate danger now.

"Sirius?" Hermione's voice broke his thoughts and he looked at the two worried teenagers in front of him.

"Sorry about that. I sent Harry a letter, so lets see if he answers it" Sirius said hoping he sounded less concerned.

"I responded to his letter as well and in it I asked what he meant by that request. But since your owl is back already, it means he should have the letter, but your owl didn't bring anything back. You think something……happened?" She asked concern filtering clearly into her voice.

"I'm not sure. He might not have had enough time to respond, but that doesn't explain why that owl is so terrified. Well Hedwig is on her way now, so maybe he'll respond this time. Lets see first if Hedwig returns with a letter and if she doesn't, I'll tell Dumbledore and we'll check on him" With that decided Sirius left the teenagers to themselves and went downstairs trying to look as if nothing was bothering him.

* * *

The feeling of being pushed through a narrow tube forced Harry to awaken. Slowly his eyes opened in slits before snapping open. He was staring at the ground below him, but that wasn't what surprised him. He was a few inches above the ground.

Frantically he searched his memories before remembering vaguely what happened. The panther had been in control so the memories were a bit clouded. But Harry remembered the pain. The excruciating pain from his scar. Voldemort had been very angry.

Harry pushed that thought away as he needed to remember what happened after that. No use thinking of Voldemort's ever-changing mood swings. He concentrated as much as possible when it suddenly came to him. Just before he had lost consciousness, he had seen a shadow of something looming over him.

Harry tensed up at the realisation that something or someone must have found him…. And he was a bloody panther for Merlin's sake! Fear became the leading emotion right now as he lifted his head as much as he possibly could, which wasn't much. Harry quickly figured out he was in some kind of magical bind. Only his head could still move and that was also very little.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he tried to look in front of him. His eyes widened at what he saw. Had he been able, he would have gasped in surprise, but it came out as a soft whining sound. It did get the attention of the person in front of him though.

The Auror, for that was what he was if the clothes were any indication, looked back and noticed the panther he was levitating was awake, if only slightly. He stopped walking causing Harry stop to as well. Slowly he lowered him to the ground before walking closer.

Harry tensed up in fear. What was this Auror going to do? Was he going to hurt him?! As Harry grew more and more panicked, the Auror pulled out his wand. Harry instinctively snarled at the man surprising both the Auror and himself.

"Easy cat, I won't hurt you, unless you're a Death Eater in animagus form that is" The Auror said chuckling slightly as if he were hoping it really was a Death Eater.

Somehow Harry felt more threatened by the Auror chuckling at his misery and he found himself wanting to attack the man. He growled ferociously at him showing his sharp fangs.

The Auror simply grinned at the reaction. "I doubt you're a wizard or witch for that matter, but still….it's not everyday you find a black panther near a muggle town" The Auror waved his wand over Harry causing bright colours to envelop him before returning to the man's wand and disappearing.

The Auror looked pleased about something, Harry guessed the spell or whatever it was, gave positive results. The Auror suddenly stared at him as if hoping to see something he hadn't before. Harry felt extremely uncomfortable if not more threatened. A sharp pain in his head made him whine as he lowered his head.

The Auror sat up straighter with a start, watching in surprise as the black panther softly growled in agony. Harry didn't notice when the Auror did another spell. The pain was bearable yet he couldn't stop whining and growling. Suddenly he felt a presence in his mind and he knew what was happening.

The panther was taking control again, probably because Harry had felt threatened. Harry knew he'd already lost and simply let himself fall in the darkness as the panther regained control over the body.

Abruptly the panther lunged forward with its paw at the Auror. The Auror jumped backwards out of his crouching position and immediately cast another binding spell on the panther. The animal slumped to the ground at first before becoming slightly stiff. Its head though was turned right at him teeth showing and eyes looking menacingly.

"Enough delay" The Auror said to no one in particular and he cast the levitation spell he used earlier on the panther again. The panther growled loudly in response, but was muted by a silencing spell. The Auror walked further with the panther floating behind him.

The panther watched as they turned around a corner and walked into an alleyway. Halfway through the Auror stopped and faced the panther. He waved his wand over it and a tingling sensation went through the animal. He did the same with himself and he was enveloped in a dull glow momentarily.

"Can't go in cloaked, now can we? The Auror said more than asked. He faced the blank wall before him as he said a strange sort of incantation. Then he tapped his Auror badge with his wand followed by tapping the wall.

The panther watched as inside the wall a double door appeared with a golden edge at the top. The Auror straightened up a bit before he spoke loudly at the door.

"Auror Berckly seeking entrance with a predatorious(1) animal for animagus testing!"

Silence followed for a few minutes when suddenly a strange sort of sticker appeared. The Auror grabbed it and before the panther knew what was happening, the Auror placed the sticker on top of its head (A/N on the panther's head I mean). The panther growled angrily, but the man just smiled at him.

The doors opened and the Auror walked in, followed by the still levitated panther with a sticker on its head. It was dark inside apart from the slight sliver of light coming from the open door. It was only now that the panther realised it was a sliver of sunlight. It was already day.

The doors shut with a bang startling the panther. A nauseating feeling enveloped it before the panther felt as if it had hit the ground. They were in a big hall it seemed with many people walking around. The panther looked around and realised he was indeed on the ground now.

Just as he realised he could move freely, something snapped shut around his neck. It was some sort of magical collar. He turned swiftly towards the Auror who took him and growled viciously at him. The Auror seemed unfazed as he waved his wand over the panther.

A sudden pain flared throughout the panther's body and disappeared as soon as it came. He growled again yet less threatening. The Auror smiled as he waved his wand again before walking away.

The panther felt himself following the Auror unable to do anything else. He growled, pulled and even tried to jump, but nothing worked. He was bound to follow this man's wand.

The people around didn't look at him or didn't even notice him, not even as he tried so desperately to get loose. Begrudgingly the panther followed the man down a hallway where at the end was a big black and golden door. Above stood a text he shouldn't understand, but somehow he could. What it said did nothing to calm the animal. He, for whatever reason, understood what the text indicated and wanted nothing more than to get away.

//Department for Magical Transformations, Animagus Registration, Animagus Testing and Deposit of Familiars and Animals.//(2)

The panther shivered in fear. This was a place he would probably not survive. He needed to get out and soon. However that seemed impossible as he was bound to follow the Auror and he was going in. He followed after the man through the open door knowing he'd never get out again.

* * *

"Oh stop fussing Petunia!" Vernon Dursley said sharply to his wife, who stood at the window staring anxiously left and right.

Petunia wringed her apron in her hands as she walked away form the window and started fussing over Dudley, who was seated at the table eating a massive breakfast. Still Petunia cast a wary look at the window ever now and then.

Vernon sighed as he snapped his eyes back to the television, away from his anxious wife. He might be annoyed at her anxiety, but he himself was just as nervous.

It had only been a few days ago that the boy had disappeared during the night and set a murderous monster on them. As ludicrous as it would sound to others, to Vernon Dursley it made perfect sense. His freak of a nephew had set up a trap for them, a murderous animal, before disappearing out of their lives leaving them to their doom.

Vernon had been fuming for a while when Petunia suggested something he never thought he'd hear from her. She suggested, that maybe that 'murderous' animal had in fact been the boy. Vernon had looked horrified at her for even thinking about such freaky things. Never had Petunia uttered a single word about her knowledge of those freaks, wishing she never knew because of her freaky sister. Petunia had gone silent after her horrible suggestion.

Still, both of them were nervous ever since. Vernon was anxious about those other freaks. What if they came to check on the boy? What would they do when he wouldn't let them in? What would they do when they found out he was gone?

A cold shiver ran up Vernon's spine at those disturbing thoughts. Shaking his head and grunting in annoyance, Vernon focussed again on the screen in front of him. The boy wasn't worth worrying about. Those people had never before checked on him, so why would they now?

The sound of something breaking demanded Vernon's attention. With an angry grunt, Vernon turned around and saw the broken plate on the floor. His eyes travelled upwards towards Petunia's face and stopped dead in their tracks.

Petunia's face was paler than usual, her eyes were wide and almost bulging out of their sockets and her mouth was slightly ajar in silent shock. Vernon got up as quickly as he could, which wasn't fast considering all the fat that kept him back. He stumbled overt o Petunia and stopped beside her.

Petunia didn't seem to even notice him, not even when Vernon placed a beefy hand on her bony shoulder. Fear snuck inside Vernon at her unresponsiveness.

Then a familiar sound filtered through the house, a sound that made Vernon disgusted with himself for knowing the meaning of. Slowly he turned around fearing what he'd see. As son as his eyes spotted it, Vernon felt his heart plummet to his stomach and stop beating, but at the same time it made his blood boil.

There, at the backdoor window, was an owl holding a white envelop. The envelop was barely visible against the bright white colour of the owl. The owl gave an impatient glare before tapping the window with its beak.

Vernon stepped back a bit, fear gripping at his heart. Why was that owl here? Was it sent? Who sent it? What did it want?

The owl suddenly screeched causing Vernon to jump a foot in the air and Petunia to scream as she covered her head with her arms, as if the owl would attack. She was oblivious to the fact that the window was closed and the owl was outside.

Dudley, who had been in the hall when Petunia dropped the plate, stood with a pale face beside his mother. Well he was a minute ago. Now he lay flat on his back having fainted and Petunia was fussing over him in near panic.

"Vernon! What should we do?!" Petunia asked on the edge of a full-blown panic attack.

Vernon didn't dare look at her. He didn't know what to do. He felt like he was stuck in a nightmare. He watched the bird with growing anxiety as the animal screeched and flung its wings against the window.

"Vernon! The neighbours!" Petunia shrieked in terror. The Dursleys feared most that people would find out abut their freaky nephew and a screeching bird at their window would not go unnoticed.

Vernon swallowed as he made his decision. He had never heard of a bird killing someone and he prayed that was the same with these freak's birds. He stumbled forward and opened the backdoor. Instantly the owl flew inside circling the living room, before settling itself on the back of the sofa.

Vernon slammed the door shut and turned with blazing eyes to the bird. He was however surprised to see the bird fixing him with a glare, if that were possible. He slowly closed the distance between himself and Petunia glancing at the bird as if it would attack at the first possibility. When it screeched loudly again, both he and Petunia snapped their eyes in its direction.

"Oh my god!" Petunia gasped suddenly. Vernon looked terrified at his wife, thinking the bird did something to her. "Vernon…" Petunia spoke weakly.

"What's wrong?" Vernon asked with a slightly shaking voice.

"Vernon…..that's _his_ owl" She whispered. Vernon looked confused before he suddenly realised who _he_ meant. His eyes snapped back to the white bird and they narrowed immediately.

Hedwig in the mean time, sat watching them clicking her beak impatiently. She watched as the fat man stood up glaring at her. She glared back with a vengeance. This man was disrespectful towards her and she wouldn't take it. He stopped before her and started screaming.

"Get out! You stupid bird! _He_ is not here!" Vernon yelled at Hedwig angrily. He spoke with disgust about Harry and unfortunately this didn't go so well with Hedwig.

Deeply offended for being screamed at and angry someone spoke like that about her master, Hedwig flung herself forwards wings wide. She crashed into Vernon's face causing the man to stumble back with a horrified gasp. Hedwig quickly took to the air after the collision flying round the living room. Then she dived right back at Vernon who was still in shock and coughing up little feathers.

Petunia had been screaming all along oblivious to her son waking up. She watched terrified as her husband struggled with a vicious bird. Dudley slowly sat up and froze at the scene before him. He promptly fainted again.

Vernon dove beneath the dining table, if you could call it that since it was so small and ugly. Hedwig made scraping sounds on the flat surface as she dove over it. Vernon was cursing himself in his head. Of course those freak's birds would attack people. How could he have suggested something of theirs to be like normal!

A loud screech right above him caused Vernon to jump in shock efficiently knocking his head against the table. Before he could even rub his head and loud crash resounded on top of the table nearly giving him a heart attack. Unable to resist, he got out from beneath the table and glanced around. What he saw surprised him.

Petunia had tried to attack the bird with a frying-pan but had missed causing the object to collide forcibly with the table top. She was fuming although the fear was clear in her eyes.

Hedwig knew better than to face the odds and turned towards the hall. She had to find her master. He hadn't been in his room so maybe he was somewhere else in the house. A loud screech followed her as she swept towards the door.

"Dudley!" Petunia screeched as she saw the white bird fly towards her boy, unaware Hedwig intended to fly over him and not attack him. She bolted forwards clutching her frying-pan. Before she reached Dudley, Hedwig was through the door and into the hall.

Hedwig stopped at the cupboard, but quickly realised her master wasn't in there. She continued up the stairs flying into every room. Last she checked her master's bedroom from the inside, but the moment she flew inside she panicked.

She smelled a predator's scent, she smelled blood and she saw blood and feathers everywhere. Her instincts screaming at her, she nearly propelled herself out the room, down the stairs, out the hall and through the living room. She avoided the frying-pan and flew out the backdoor, which surprisingly had been opened again.

Without glancing back once, she disappeared from sight, the letter still hanging from her leg, still unread.

* * *

He couldn't have been more right. As soon as he stepped inside past the double doors, several rough hands grabbed him around the neck, paws and tail. Snarling viciously the panther started trashing about, but before he could escape the Department cronies a stinging pain flared through his body.

The panther looked up and stared straight into Auror Berckly's eyes. Immediately the animal's stare became a murderous glare, but the Auror didn't seem to notice. Movement from the left caught the panther's attention and it turned its glare away from the Auror.

A nervous looking guy was coming closer holding something round in his hands. Recognising what it was, the panther growled threateningly. The nervous man froze in his steps and glanced nervously at the predator before him who was clearly angry.

"It's harmless" Auror Berckly spoke up drawing the nervous man's attention. The man looked uncertain at him. Berckly held his wand at eye level. "This will keep him n check. He's just a harmless cub now" Berckly said with a grin.

A sudden anger flared throughout the panther's body. It felt as if its blood was boiling. Did this man see him as _harmless_? The thought that he was made out to be a weak and pathetic animal made the panther thirsty for blood. He was a predator and a dangerous one at that.

Determined to show the Auror how _harmless_ he could be, the panther growled angrily as he lunged forward towards him. Berckly was momentarily stunned from shock before stumbling back and quickly waving his wand at the attacking animal. Another flare of pain went through the panther's body.

However instead of stopping the attack, it merely slowed the panther down. Berckly watched in shock as the panther came closer still, only at a slightly slower pace. It's eyes were in slits and its teeth stuck together. Another wave of his wand emitted another fierce growl which ended in a whine.

Still, the panther did not stop. With a ferocious growl the animal jumped in the air and landed hard on the Auror's chest. Berckly toppled over and hit the ground with his back, hard. The panther stood on top of him staring at him with an unmistakable blood thirst.

Several shouts warned the panther of oncoming stunning hexes. Leaping off Berckly, the panther avoided the stunning hexes. Several disappeared further down the large hall, while a few hit Berckly.

Avoiding several more attacks, the panther darted towards the double doors with no way of opening them. Still it had to take the chance. Just as it reached the doors, much to its surprise, the double doors opened. Aiming to leap through as soon as it was large enough it spurt forward.

However instead of leaping past the doors, the panther froze in its tracks and stared at the person entering. He recognised him and he became hopeful for some reason. In the back of its mind he felt a sudden pressure and before he had the chance he felt himself slipping in the dark.

Harry was back in control and stared at Auror Moody who stood before him in the doorway. Momentarily forgetting he was a panther, he tried to call out to him. Much to Harry's surprise he emitted a low growl.

Moody's eyes had been focussed behind further into the hall when he heard a growl nearby. His eyes roamed downwards and locked onto the creature before him. As this was the _Department for Magical Transformations, Animagus Registration, Animagus Testing and Deposit of Familiars and Animals_, this wasn't so strange. The fact however that the animal was on the loose and the employees were scattered and not to mention looking fearful, was strange.

Quickly assessing the situation, Moody wordlessly stunned the panther who dropped down immediately. Stepping inside so the double doors could close, Moody waiting besides the animal for the employees to come retrieve the panther and explain what happened.

Harry couldn't believe what had happened. Moody had stunned him and now the doors were closed. Feeling what little hope he had drift away, Harry waited for Auror Berckly to arrive. Soon enough a blazing pain filled his body and all eh could do was whine, which was practically non-existent as he was stunned.

"Berckly! What are you doing?!" Moody boomed as he took hold of his fellow Auror's wand and pulled it away from the panther.

"Punishing it! What does it look like!?" Berckly snapped back at him. Moody's eyes narrowed slightly as he slowly released the wand.

"What are you even doing here? Last time I checked you were an Auror!" Moody spoke harshly with a tone of authority. As expected Berckly flinched slightly before standing tall again.

"I found this _beast_ and brought it here" Berckly responded. From the way he spoke the word 'beast', Moody could easily determine that the animal had put up some sort of fight. And honestly what animal wouldn't if caught.

"Then hand it over to them and leave already. Don't go wasting your time on torturing an animal when you could be getting those damn reports done!" Moody snapped at the Auror. Berckly looked put out, but seemed to get the hint.

He turned around to the employees of this department, grabbed the silver collar form the nervous man and roughly put it on the panther's neck. He then waved his wand over him before practically stomping through the double doors.

Harry felt drained from everything that had happened so far. He was confused about having a simple collar on, but didn't pay it much thought. He felt himself being levitated a little distance before stopping and simply floating on the place.

"What are you here for Auror Moody?" One of the employees asked politely.

"I had to check on something, Auror business. I need access to your records" He stated in a tone that said _'you better not ask why or you'll wish you were never born_'.

"Of course, sir. Right this way" Harry's eyes followed Moody's form as long as it remained in his sight. When Moody disappeared, Harry felt the last bit of his hope being crushed.

A single door nearby burst open causing him to jump, of course he couldn't as he was still stunned, but he could feel like he had. It felt similar to waking up thinking you have fallen, but are in fact simply laying down.

As he watched himself being levitated closer to the open door, Harry noticed a man was standing further into the room and he could almost feel the man's wand moving towards him. The pressure from the panther's mind became noticeable immediately. With no hope whatsoever, Harry gave in, letting the panther take control, again.

The panther had barely been in control, when a bright colour blinded it and then everything went black.

* * *

Bleary eyes opened and instantly narrowed. The light in the room was much too bright against the darkness of unconsciousness. A painful throbbing from its head, caused the panther to whine softly. It slowly raised its head to look around as it adjusted to the lighting of the room.

It was a white room, although the ground was a light grey. There was a light grey door at the other end of where the panther lay, but that was about it. The panther growled annoyed at the fact that it had been knocked out again. Decided to stretch its limbs the panther intended to stand up.

It pulled its forepaws closer to its chest, meaning to place them under its body to push itself up, but found this impossible to do. Something was holding the movement back. Looking at its paws the panther growled angrily at what it saw as its instincts screamed danger.

Around every paw was a sort of collar or ring attached to a chain. Following the chains, the panther noticed they were stuck on the wall to its right. Knowing it had no choice, the panther crawled over the floor towards the wall so the chains would loosen. The panther stood up and stretched as much as possible, before staring round the room angrily but with a hint of anxiety.

There was no one else inside the room and no indication of anyone watching over it. Ignoring the room for what it was, the panther brought its attention to the chains. They weren't extremely thick, but most likely to strong to break. He clawed at them and even bit at them. There wasn't even a scratch from all the work.

Letting a frustrated growl escape its throat, the panther began pacing as far as the chains would let him. How long had it been here? How long would it be before someone came to do whatever they intended to do with it?

The sound of a door slamming into a wall caused the panther to jump slightly and turn its attention towards where the sound came from. A slight breeze crept around the panther from the open door. An intimidating man stood in the doorway, his wand by his side.

The man stepped further into the room and reached for the door. He closed it like a normal person before looking right at the panther. The panther in question, was rather confused by the man's behaviour, but nevertheless stayed alert. No way anyone would catch it off guard.

"Finally awake I see" The man spoke. His voice was deep, but seemed to hold a somewhat gentle tone in it. It almost seemed as if this man didn't want to hurt him, but had to for some odd reason.

The response was a deep growl. The panther might be able to hear the gentleness in a voice, but that didn't mean it would let its guard down. The panther moved back to the wall a bit all the while growling deeply.

"I wish not to hurt you. Alas I have no choice. I'm here to run some tests on you to see if you appear what you make out to be" Why this man was talking to him, the panther did not know nor did it care.

The man stepped forward, making him only a few steps removed from the panther. Instincts screaming approaching danger, the panther lunged forward claws extended. The man backed away swiftly, but not before the panther's claws ripped through the fabric of his cloak.

At a safe distance from the animal, the man lifted his cloak to determine the damage. To say a new cloak was required would be the truth. He eyed the panther who was once again pacing in front of the wall. The animal was angry and trapped. Both good reasons to warrant such an attack. The opportunity was all it needed.

A sad smile crossed the man's face before he righted himself and raised his wand at the pacing panther. Immediately the animal stopped pacing and glared at the man and his wand. The sudden attention the panther gave the man made him suspicious.

"_It stopped pacing when I raised my wand. Could it know what it is? Could it be an animagus?! I didn't believe it before. Maybe that auror was right. Well one way to find out"_

The man shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts. He focussed on the acquired spell and said the words. An invisible force slammed into the panther. It wasn't completely invisible. There had been a whitish glow form the wand, but that was about it.

The panther sank through its paws from the pressure it felt all around it. It could feel its bones shifting and its organs moving slightly. It was changing! It felt the pressure of the other presence growing more active as the change continued only inside the body. After all, the form this body was taking belonged primarily to that presence. The panther whined louder as the pain increased and the presence of the wizard was feeling just as much pain as he was.

The man was eyeing the panther with concern. The animal appeared to be in pain, yet there was no change at all. If it was a real animal, the spell should have had no affect, but even if it was a witch or wizard, there should not have been any pain. Yet the panther was whining loudly obviously in pain.

A sudden warmth filled the panther's body. But just as suddenly as it came, it changed to ice cold. Un unnatural sound was forced out of the panther as the pain increased tremendously. Never had it felt such pain before. The other presence was screaming in the back of his mind.

The man jumped when the panther made an unnatural sound. What was happening?! Soon enough the door opened and several people rushed inside.

"What's happening?!" One cried above the whining and strange sounds of the panther. The man who cast the spell could only shook his head.

The panther felt its organs freeze over and its bones shifting back into position. Lack of oxygen started to blur the panther's eyes. Black spot appeared in its vision. Then the ice cold disappeared and the pain stopped. It kept its eyes closed for it was in too much pain to bother opening them. Although the panther sensed the presence of more than one around itself, it felt no desire to look or bother worrying about it. Not now anyway.

"Is it alive?" A woman asked tentatively. Everyone shook their heads, but made no move to go check. Sighing at the lack of courage, the woman went to check herself.  
She reached out to the panther. As she touched it, the fur stood on end and the panther let out a pain filled whine, although barely audible. Sighing in relieve the woman stood up and informed the others that the animal was still alive.

"Good. You three go find out if there has ever been a record of true animals feeling pain form the reverse animagus spell. You two get working on the second test. We'll continue the tests in two hours. Get moving!"

Everyone scrambled away to do what their boss ordered them to do. The man who performed the reverse animagus spell stood to the side waiting for instructions, while glancing nervously at the panther.

"Bruick, take a rest" Bruick glanced at his boss, before nodding and leaving the room.

The last man in the room, the boss of the group that just left, stared curiously at the panther. The poor animal, if that's what it was, lay whimpering and whining barely audible. It was as if it didn't have the strength to give any sound, yet it felt it had too from the pain it experienced.

"If you're not an animagus, then you certainly are a special creature. I've never seen such a reaction to this spell. What are you hiding?" the man spoke out loud, knowing no one would hear him or understand him.

He left the room closing the door behind him. The panther opened one eye and watched as the door slowly closed and the last man disappeared from the room. It breathed out a miserable whine before closing its eye again. That pain had been more painful than anything, but what it was, not even the panther knew nor the wizard in the back of its mind.

* * *

_Well, I didn't go as far as Harry's animagus form getting its name, but I did that because I wanted to upload for you guys. So I cut this chapter a bit shorter than I intended, though it's still pretty long I think. hope you all enjoyed it, let me know in a review please. _

**Btw, I've changed stuff in my poll again and raised the votes to three for one person. Please vote if you can.**

1 ) I don't think 'predatorious' is a correct word, but I liked it and so I will use it.  
2 ) There probably isn't such a department in the ministry, but in my story there is. Hope this doesn't bother anyone too badly.

_It might be a bit confusing when I change between Harry's and the panther's mind. As soon as the panther came in control, everything was from the panther's knowledge and vision and instincts, however since he shares the body with Harry's mind he will get some information and be able to understand texts, just like Harry receives instincts he normally wouldn't have. I hope later this will get a bit easier to understand._


	4. Effective

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I know it's hard to believe, I'm still recovering from the news.

**Important****:** KiraraTwoTail mentioned animal abuse in a review. Now I am completely against animal cruelty. People who do that are not worthy of their own lives in my opinion. They should be homeless, starved and more things I won't mention.  
I mean no disrespect for any animal by writing animal 'abuse' in this story. If anything, I'm showing how horrible it is from the animal's point of view.  
These tests are pretty bad already, but I must warn all of you, that there will probably be more, maybe and actual deliberate cruelty eventually. So if this bothers you, I'm terribly sorry.  
Hope you'll stick with me anyway :P

_Summary: After fourth year. Harry thinks he survived the worst, that is until his magic goes haywire and he finds himself stuck in his animagus form. Through turn of events Harry ends up with Remus. The Order and his friends think he's missing unaware that Harry is extremely close. Can Harry make them figure his presence out? Does he even want to be found?_

Missing Right In Front of You

Chapter 4 – Effective

There was darkness again. Nothing to see, to feel, to hear, to taste nor to smell. All senses were paralysed in this darkness. All except a certain sixth sense. A sense that was more like a feeling inside of you. A feeling that knew something wasn't right. That was the only thing that registered in its mind right now. A feeling of foreboding.

After some time it thought it heard sounds. How long it'd been it didn't know. The feeling of foreboding had increased, but the sounds as well. It sounded more clearer now. It were voices, two voices. The fogginess in its mind was slowly lifting and the panther was able to pick up a few words now and then.

"….can't……won't….."

"….don't…..choice……want…..either"

If anything the panther got more confused. It wasn't up for this. The pain from before was still there, a lingering ache in its muscles and mind. For a change, the panther didn't want to be the one present. It felt itself slip back to the darkness and for a moment it felt something brush against its side, a hand. Then all that was left was darkness and peace.

Harry moaned inwardly as he reclaimed control over the body. Even if he had felt the pain the whole time, it felt worse now. Probably because he was the presence in control now. Did that mean the panther had felt the effects of the spell heavier than him? The pain was enough to make Harry wish he died, so what was it like for the panther?

Thinking of the panther, Harry realised this was the first time the panther willingly gave him control. All these times it took control whenever Harry felt threatened or afraid and the times when Harry took control the panther had given it begrudgingly. Now however, it gave it willingly.

A great deal of guilt filled Harry at this realisation. Of course the panther would give control away after going through so much pain. Who wouldn't try to hide even if only to lessen the pain a bare minimum. He himself has screamed from the pain and he hadn't even been the presence in control, the presence that took the full blow.

The poor animal didn't deserve this pain and it was feeling this because it had to. It was stuck with Harry now. All because Harry had become an animagus. Why had he done it? Why did he become one?!

But he hadn't done it on purpose, had he? He had no control that night, he wasn't even aware of it happening for he had been unconscious. How did it happen, anyway?

"….escape……crazy……finds out……"

The voices broke Harry's thoughts. He tried to listen to them. It was like listening to a radio transmission coming through badly.

"…know………have…….try……horrible…."

Harry felt annoyed that he couldn't properly hear them. Why was his mind so foggy, why couldn't he wake up?

BAM

Harry felt his body jump slightly at the sudden banging sound. It definitely helped wake him up, for sounds were coming through more clearly, not to mention loudly. Blearily he opened his cat eyes and looked at the unclear figures standing near an open door.

"What are you two doing here!?" a loud and angry voice demanded to know.

"Uhm…we were checking on the animal" A man's voice spoke albeit a little shaky.

"Yeah, that's right. We can't have him in bad shape for the, uh..tests, right?" A woman's voice added to the explanation. The way she paused a bit in her sentence clearly showed she didn't like those tests at all.

Harry's vision finally cleared up and he looked up at the people. The nervous man and woman stood a little further in the room than the third person. The angry man stood in the doorway looking down at the other two. Obviously he was the one to slam the door like that.

"Right. And this requires both of your presences because..?" The man questioned suspiciously. The other two looked nervously at each other before returning their gazes to their angry boss.

Harry had recognised the nervous looking man. It was that man that did the test on him. Bruick. However instead of feeling angry at the man, he felt sad for him. It had been obvious the man never meant to hurt anyone. The man had been terrified when the panther and unknown to them, Harry, had been in horrible pain.

"Well, I was, uhm, afraid to go in alone" The woman spoke softly.

"Afraid? You actually think this thing would do anything now? It can't move let alone would want to. It knows now what we're capable of. Get out and get to work, now!"

"Yes sir!" Both replied before dashing passed their boss as fast as possible.

The boss in question, looked at the panther on the ground at the far back wall. It hadn't moved since it lost consciousness. While it had been unconscious though, he had ordered some people to shorten the chains.

He smiled at the thought of the panther waking up and finding out about the chains. He then turned around and pulled the door closed as hard as he had opened it. The whole room shook slightly alerting Harry that the man had indeed left.

Opening his eyes, Harry stared around the room. He was alone, again. He wondered how long it had been since the test. They had said the tests resumed in two hours. Seeing there was no test happening, it couldn't have been two hours yet, unless they tested him while he was unconscious.

As much as he knew it would hurt, Harry tried to stand on all fours. He managed to move onto his belly, all four paws at the ready. With a deep intake of breath, he forced his struggling muscles to push him up. Half way up, he nearly buckled over, but shifting his paws to stand a little wider and a certain swish of the tail, managed to keep him upright.

Harry found himself panting slightly from this one movement. The panther's mind was still silent. Harry couldn't even feel it at the moment which meant it was really out of it.

Harry tried to sigh, but the sound reverberating through the room was the sound of a pitiful whine. Harry's eyes widened momentarily at the sound. He had been a panther for a few days now, but still he couldn't quite get used to it. The sounds he now emitted still sounded strange to him. He wondered how long it'd take for him to get used to them.

He eyed the bare room trying to find anything of interest. There were only the four walls, a ceiling and floor and one door. Not a single window or anything else of interest. It wasn't that strange. After all it was only a test room.

Harry couldn't stop himself from wondering, if this was a similar bareness to an Azkaban cell. Although Azkaban was much, much worse, Harry couldn't help but feel like he was in a strange way in Azkaban. He was caged in, he was in pain, he felt miserable, he felt guilty for the animal's mind and….he felt like he couldn't find happiness again.

Even if he were to escape, would he find his way back home, to Sirius and Hogwarts? Would he ever return to human form? Would he ever see Sirius, Ron, Hermione, Remus and everyone else?

Feeling more miserable with every thought, Harry lay back down his head resting on his front paws. He lay there, waiting for the next test and all the while wondering how everyone else was doing and if anyone even knew that he wasn't in Little Winging anymore.

Above else, he wondered about Sirius. Was Padfoot also a living presence inside Sirius? Had Sirius struggled against Padfoot for control? Had Sirius ever wished to lose control to Padfoot? Was what Harry had with the panther's mind, normal for an animagus?

* * *

Blue-grey eyes stared out the window. There was a window, but there was nothing to see. Still Sirius stared out the window, as if hoping to see something.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Ginny demanded from the snickering twins in the corner.

"No, I don't. I like reading!" Hermione snapped back at Ron.

"Out! Out! Now!" Mrs. Weasley's voice broke above the others as she shoed everyone out of the kitchen.

"Can I help?" Tonks asked Mrs. Weasley.

"NO!" Everyone shouted at Tonks' request. It was no secret Tonks was clumsy and everyone knew the trouble she'd cause if she tried to help making lunch.

Sirius sighed. It sure wasn't silent and boring in the house anymore. The Order meetings had managed to take his mind off of things, but as soon as they were over, he was right back in his bored state. Now, that was impossible.

There was always something going on. Be it the twins playing a prank, Ron and Hermione arguing, Molly shouting or Ginny reprimanding her brothers. As annoying as all this could be, Sirius was happy for it.

It kept his mind from going to places he rather not go to. But also, it reminded him of the good old days at Hogwarts. He and James playing pranks, Remus trying to get them to do their homework and occasionally joining in the prank, Lily reprimanding him and James. Good times that were.

"What are you smiling at?" A calm voice asked. Sirius' eyes snapped up and locked eyes with Remus. The werewolf had seated himself across from his friend.

"Nothing really" Sirius answered his eyes darting towards the lively part of the room.

Remus followed his gaze and understood what Sirius meant. It wasn't that hard to figure out what kept Sirius' mind busy. Remus was sure, that if Sirius had never gone after Peter and grieved, he would have withered away. Sirius would stay stuck in his grieve and guilt and he would forget that the outside world ticked further.

No, even though going after Peter hadn't been a great move either, it kept Sirius from turning away from the world. He had something to go on, even if that was revenge and eventually the need to protect. That was when Harry returned in his life. Sirius changed and only cared for Harry since then. Sure Peter was still on his hit list, but Harry was more important now, more than anything else.

In fact, Harry was another reason for Sirius being aware of the outside world. If Sirius had eventually succeeded in taking out Peter, he would be back where he started. His revenge would be done and all he could do then, would be to grieve and drown in his guilt. James was gone, Lily was gone and Sirius would forget about Harry who needed him, because he would turn away from the world, turn to his mind, where James was still alive.

"Hey, MOONY!" Remus snapped out of his thoughts at the loudly spoken nickname. His eyes locked onto Sirius' grinning face. "Did Moony need a hug?" Sirius asked jokingly.

Remus was momentarily confused before he realised what Sirius meant. It was a joke from the old days. Every time Remus spaced out, they would joke that Moony needed some attention.

"Very funny, Padfoot. No actually Moony had an idea" Remus spoke mysteriously. "Something like…….." Remus whispered the last word.

Sirius however had heard it since he was closest to Remus. Before he could shout that Remus was a cheater, his legs started to buckle and he tripped over his own feet, landing facedown on the ground.

The entire room burst into laughs and giggles. Sirius cursed inwardly before casting the counter spell. He jumped back on his feet facing Remus. Remus took the hint and stood up too.

"You're on!" Sirius said loudly to everyone to hear. Everyone grew silent processing what Sirius had said. Remus however drew his wand and smiled at Sirius.

"I take it lunch is delayed" Remus answered stating a fact. The others all ducked for cover as the two men began their prank duel.

Although Remus didn't intent for this to happen, he was glad it did. This would keep Sirius more lively if only for a short while. He would forget his worries and troubles for a while and be Sirius again.

* * *

Harry's ears turned to the right, towards the door. He had heard a sound coming from behind it. He listened intently and watched as the door slowly opened. His eyes locked onto the woman he had seen earlier, arguing with Bruick.

The woman was holding what looked like a water bowl. She slowly lifted one of her legs and pushed the door closed with it, while trying to keep the bowl steady. She glanced at the panther, before slowly walking towards him.

She was obviously nervous as the bowl kept shaking slightly in her hands and now and then a few drops spilled over the edge. Her eyes kept glancing between the bowl and the panther.

Harry didn't feel threatened by this woman and he was definitely not interested in what she brought. He was tired and still in pain and just wanted to be left alone. He turned his head away from her and swished his tail once before resting it back on the cold floor.

Her reaction, in other circumstances, would have been funny. She jumped back startled by the sudden movement. The water bowl became air born, the water splashing all over her. She tried to catch the bowl to prevent it from hitting the floor, even though it wasn't necessary for it was empty already, but all it got her was that she went face down to the ground. The bowl clattered beside her.

During this slip up, Harry had turned his ears away from the sounds and closed his eyes. His tail lay now loosely against his body instead of spread out behind him. He released a soft growl of annoyance, but it went unheard.

The woman was still on the ground, her eyes fixed on the panther as if expecting it to lash out at her. The fact that the animal hadn't given any sort of reaction to her stumble, confused her. How could an animal that was captured and had gone through pain just hours ago, completely ignore all the noise she made?

The sound of the door slamming into the wall, caused the woman to shriek as she turned around and sat up. Harry had cringed slightly at the sudden sound and turned his head towards the door. What he saw did nothing for his already messed up mood.

"What are you doing!?" The boss yelled at the woman cowering on the floor. "Can't do a single thing right, can you?" He continued. He reached out for the woman and roughly pulled her up. "Clean this up and redo the test!" He ordered before storming off again.

A growling sound behind her, caused the woman to turn around. She watched apprehensively and confused as the panther was growling angrily. She followed its gaze and watched the retreating back of her boss.

Harry was angry, although he wasn't sure why. There had been no real threat to him, this time. He guessed it was that man. He was a horrible creature and Harry felt a sudden urge to rip him apart. However a sudden thought stilled him completely.

_Test?_

She was performing a test? With what? She didn't bring a wand or anything else, right?

She did. She had brought a water bowl. Harry turned his head towards the bowl still on the ground. Then it clicked in his mind. It _was_ a test. There had been something in that water. Perhaps a potion?

Anger bubbled back inside him. They dared to trick him into drinking that potion! Anger rose inside him at their disrespect. What was he to them? A test rat!

Harry released an angry growl as he suddenly rose on all fours. He turned to face the woman, who still stood watching him. He snarled angrily at her, even though she wasn't to blame. He couldn't think straight anymore. The anger inside him demanded to be let out and the urge to attack something grew steadily larger.

The woman stepped back in fear as the panther rose from the floor. She didn't get why it suddenly got so angry, but she sure as hell didn't dare come any closer. Without warning the water bowl suddenly flew through the air, straight at her. She ducked with a scream of fear and the bowl went flying over her head, landing outside in the hallway.

Harry felt a tinge of surprise, but it was too weak to focus on. He felt the panther tugging at his mind again, and surprisingly this made Harry relieved instead of anxious to lose control again. It meant the panther was alright, no longer subdued like before. Harry let himself fall back in his mind returning to the darkness, while the panther regained control. With the panther back in control, Harry was sure they couldn't trick him to take the potion. They'd have to force him and forcing this particular panther was not going to be easy.

Several co-workers rushed to the woman's aid, although having no clue what had happened. She reassured them it was nothing and left the room with them. Before she closed the door, she glanced once more time at the panther.

The panther stood steadily on his four paws and was carrying his tail instead of letting it hung behind him. Its eyes were fixated on her and its two fangs were visible. But it were the two emerald eyes, that made her shiver. She had never heard of a panther with green eyes. Then there was the strange effects of the spell. This was certainly a special case.

Shaking her head, she closed the door, once more leaving the panther alone in its 'cage'.

The panther was now leaning heavily against the chains, but they wouldn't budge. Fully stretched, the panther stood barely a meter from the wall. The room itself was 5 times bigger than that. It showed how much they feared it. To limit the space like that, clearly showed they knew what it was capable of and it made them nervous.

The panther would have smiled if it were able. Instead it let out a snarl before stepping closer to the wall and sitting down, its eyes fixated on the door. The game was set and the panther was ready for them. No more surprises.

* * *

The visitor's entrance appeared and out stepped an annoyed looking wizard holding what looked like a large brown bag. Behind him two animals followed and above him one other. The wizard walked at a brisk pace towards the reception desk and slammed his free hand down on the hard surface.

The wizard behind the desk jumped slightly before composing himself, as much as he could. He warily looked up at the wizard standing before him and his heart sank. _Not again._

"Morning, Gr.." He started.

"Save it!" the man before the desk snapped. The loud thud of something landing hard the floor reverberated through the hall. The angry looking man then reached into his pocket with his other hand taking something out. Then he slammed that hand on the desk as well, before withdrawing the hand to show the card. "Scan it already!" He snapped angrily at the nervous looking man.

"Right away, Growell!" The man responded his voice shaking a bit. He pulled his wand and quickly touched the card with the tip. A two–seconds long glow later and the card was snatched off the desk and Growell stalked passed the desk, heading for a certain door.

The man watched Growell's retreating back and the grey wolf and red fox tagging along behind him. The man sighed as he turned back towards his desk, relieved Growell had passed by quickly. However a familiar black shadow sat on his desk and the screech that followed caused the poor man to fall off his chair.

The black raven jumped off the desk and started pecking the man. The man tried to hit the raven, but he couldn't get it to stop. Just as he decided to cry out, Growell's voice thundered through the entire hall.

"Ni !!" The raven abruptly stopped its pecking and took flight. It flew straight towards it master, who stood impatiently at a door. The raven landed expertly on Growell's shoulder.

Growell gave the raven a reprimanding look, before a slight grin appeared on his face. "That's what he'd get for taking so long" The raven responded with a screech before Growell turned back around and left through the door, the wolf and fox following obediently.

* * *

"I doubt if that'll work this time" Bruick voiced his concerns.

"Well, what else can we try? He's bound to be thirsty, it's our best chance" The woman responded.

"I know Emma, but still, it's smart. It won't take it, I'm sure it won't" Bruick tried once more.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Emma asked exasperated. Bruick shook his head. He didn't know.

"Let's just try a few things. If nothing works, we'll.…tell him" Bruick suggested. Emma agreed nervously. The two left the hall via a certain door seconds before the big double doors of the department opened with a bang.

The receptionist of The Department for Magical Transformations, Animagus Registration, Animagus Testing and Deposit of Familiars and Animals, jumped slightly at the loud entrance. She turned her head to see who it was and a smile appeared on her face. Anyone who knew her at all, could tell it was a fake smile, to cover up how she really felt.

"Morning Growell! Coming for more recruits again?" She asked in faked happiness. Growell walked over to the desk she occupied and leaned with one arm on it.

"Not exactly" He replied as he held up the big brown bag. "More like dumping a failed recruit. This one won't amount to anything I'm afraid" He continued.

The woman had to force her anger hidden. She hated this man so badly. Most people hated him. He was beyond rude and didn't give a damn about the animals he 'trained'. Sure he said it was training, but everyone doubted if it really was training. The rumours had it, his training was brutal, more like a slave-camp for animals.

Of course, without prove, one could do nothing about it. But she knew, deep down in her heart as she stared at the animals. Their obedience was not out of respect, she was sure of it. But you couldn't exactly ask the animals if they were treated badly, right?

"Aha, well that's too bad huh. So I take it it'll be deposited here until we find an appropriate place for it, right?" She stated more than asked. She was already taking some forms for Growell to fill in.

"Actually, I think that'd be a waste of money and time. I think it's best to _deposit_ of this one" Growell responded. The woman's head snapped up at that. "Don't look so upset. Trust me, this one has some issues that can't be fixed. I should know, I've trained the damn thing. Also its got this injury that can't really be treated. It's really for the best"

Growell took his leave, but the woman cried out desperate to stop him. "Wait, the…proper forms…..you can't just…."

"That's okay. I'll just go down there now. Everyone here knows me well enough. I'll handle this without those forms. So no need to bother your precious time, beautiful" With that Growell left to the opposite site of the hall and disappeared through a door, his familiars following without missing a beat.

* * *

The panther watched slightly amused as Bruick and who the panther now knew as Emma, quickly gathered the water bowl and meat they had dropped when they slipped on the water that still flooded the ground.

It had been a few minutes and they wee already messing everything up. It had taken them some time before they started trying the test again. During that time the panther had sat silently watching the door, where it was still seated now.

When Bruick and Emma entered, both were holding something. Emma was holding another water bowl while Bruick was carrying a fresh piece of raw meat. By the look on his face hew as disgusted with the meat.

They had only taken a few steps before hey slipped on the water still covering the floor from Emma's earlier mistake and both went down instantly. The new water got spilled as well and the meat rolled through it for a few seconds before coming to a stop. Bruick and Emma had started yelling at each other, before realising something and had hurried to gather their dropped things.

The panther hadn't moved a muscle during all this. It was obvious these two were anything but a threat to it. They were extremely clumsy. But as funny as this all was to the panther, it was also torture. The water and meat were extremely inviting, but it knew the moment it touched it, pain would return.

It couldn't be sure, but it felt like it would. It was its sixth sense screaming out and especially after that spell, it was positive this _potion_ would be just as bad, if not worse. After all, this had to be ingested unlike the spell.

"What are you two dimwits doing this time!" The familiar angry voice yelled.

The panther looked at the doorway where, as expected, Bruick and Emma's boss stood. The boss was looking red as a tomato, causing Bruick and Emma to cower on the floor holding an empty water bowl and a piece of meat.

"Get out of the way! I'll show you how you perform a test!" The boss thundered angrily as he swept his wand over the floor causing the water to vanish. Bruick and Emma jumped on their feet and rushed behind their boss, who stepped defiantly into the room. Before they could turn around to see what their boss was planning, the door closed abruptly.

Now it was just a panther and a man in the test room. The boss looked down at the panther grinning. Somehow this caused the panther to grow angry and feel threatened. It lunged forward, but the chains didn't let it get far. The boss smiled at that and the reaction was an angry snarl.

"Let's see what you got"

The panther was momentarily confused, when all of a sudden the chains fell down to the floor. The panther looked confused at the chains which lay on the ground, disconnected from the collars around its paws. It looked up at its opponent and saw the wand in his hand. He opened his other hand showing a vial filled with something.

Anger bubbled to the surface. It was not going to go down easy. He wanted a fight so he could have a fight. At the slightest movement of the wand, the panther jumped forwards. Before it reached the flesh it set its eyes on, a blue sort of wall appeared between itself and its prey. Seconds later, the panther realised it was a shield created by the Protego spell. Unlike before, the panther now understood how it knew this. The wizard knew this and therefore it knew it to.

Suddenly the shield was gone and a red light came speeding its way. The panther jumped to the left avoiding it, before lunging for the man again. The man however dodged the attack and sent another red light at it. This time the panther got hit and it slit a few inches on the ground.

It was hurting all over. It wasn't so much the spell that hurt, although it was a part of the pain. It was the pain from the first test that was hurting again. It never actually got over that. Its muscles were still hurting.

"Is that all?" The boss taunted the animal. How the animal understood what he said, he couldn't explain except if it were indeed an animagus. The first test hadn't worked, but perhaps it was messed with or something.

The panther got back on all fours and snarled viciously at the man. Before the man could utter another spell, the vial he was carrying sped with tremendous speed towards one of the walls. The man looked surprised and shocked as the vial sat stuck _in the wall. _

A sudden pain flared through his shoulder accompanied by a heavy weight on his chest. It took him a few moments to realise, the panther was standing on top of his chest and its fangs had sunken into his right shoulder. His wand had clattered to the ground and had rolled out of reach. Blood flowed out of his shoulder as the panther increased its hold on it. He looked at the panther, looked straight into those green eyes and he saw it. The thirst for revenge, the thirst to rip him apart. A thirst to protect itself at all cost.

However it didn't last very long, for the panther suddenly released him and backed away as if stung. He remained on the ground slowly letting the pain register in his mind. His right hand twitched, trying to feel if he was still holding the wand or not.

As the pain suddenly flared throughout his shoulder and the rest of his body, he cried out. "God damn it!"

He then sat up and lunged for his wand. Before he reached it however, he saw a flash of black blocking his vision of his wand. Two emerald eyes stared viciously at him. That's when he knew, now was his only chance, no his _last _chance. The panther growled deeply and menacingly and then it lunged for him.

Instantly he brought his left arm before him just in time. The panther's fangs closed around his left arm and he felt the teeth sink into his flesh followed by the flow of warm blood. But above all else, the feeling of breaking glass, made him smile.

The panther jumped back abruptly as if stung, once more. This time however it was really stung. There had been something sharp when he'd bit the arm. The panther spit out something and looked confused at the red and blue liquid and the glass pieces on the ground. Without warning the panther felt itself go numb and went crashing to the ground.

The door suddenly slammed open and a dozen people came running inside. Half of them stood with their wands pointing at the panther slumped on the ground while the other half went to aid their boss.

"Have you completely lost you mind?!" One of them yelled at him, forgetting a moment he was their boss. He didn't pay her any attention. He just looked at the panther a grin plastered on his face.

"Uhm….people!" One of the panther's guards called out to the rest. All eyes turned to the voice and then focussed on the panther. Many gasps filled the bloody room.

The panther lay slumped on the floor, a small puddle of blood near its mouth from the glass of the vial, hidden in the sleeve of their boss. But what had caused their co-worker to call out so nervously was not from that. It was from the 5-second convulsing interval.

The panther let out a whine so high a note, most had to grab at their ears. It kept convulsing every 5 seconds and the blood from the injury in its mouth seemed to increase steadily. Bruick dropped his wand and dropped beside the panther. Emma followed his example.

"What's happening?" Bruick asked more to himself. Emma couldn't answer ,not could anyone else.

"It's a panther" the voice of their boss suddenly spoke. All eyes turned to him, some confused others annoyed.

"What do you mean, exactly?" Emma asked in a daring tone of voice. She had never dared speak to him like that, but it seemed she was no longer afraid of him.

"I mean, it's a bloody panther. It's not an animagus. This potion will cause wizards and witches to transform if they are an animagus. If you give this to an animagus, they'll turn back. If you give it to an animal, they'll start convulsing" He explained.

"What!?" Several voices shouted in disbelieve.

"It's simple really. An animal can't transform, it has no magic. This potion tries to use the magic of the drinker and if there is none, you'll get a bad effect. Although, I've never seen such strong convulsions before" Their boss explained.

Silence rang through the room, except for the panther's whines and convulsing movements on the ground. Emma stood up slowly and stopped before her boss. She looked down at the floor as she asked her question.

"Is this potion illegal?"

"I don't see why since it's so effective, but yes, it is illegal" He responded.

A second later, Emma's hand connected with his face leaving a stinging sensation behind. She then turned around and moved towards the panther. Her boss tried to lunge for her, to pay her back, but several strong arms held him in place.

"Go get some Aurors" One of them ordered.

Emma in the mean time, had taken her wand out and cast a levitation spell on the panther. She then hurried out of the test room with the panther her co-workers behind her. They locked the door, effectively locking in their boss, alone.

As Emma went to the treatment room for injured animals, some of her co-workers following, the rest went the other way. One of them made a call for a mediwitch, but told them there was no haste. Sure their boss was bleeding, but it would be a while for him to bleed out.

* * *

It was late afternoon and Sirius was feeling more worried every second. Most of the Weasley's were sitting in the living room, but he was sitting at on the stairs. Hedwig had still not shown up yet and she was a bloody fast owl.

Of course there could be several reasons why she didn't show up yet. For one, Harry might not have had time to write a reply and everyone knew Hedwig would wait rather then fly back with nothing, unless Harry ordered her of course.

Still the worry was filling him and Sirius couldn't stand it. He wanted his godson close, within sight so he could protect him like he was supposed to, like he promised James and Lily, and himself.

"Sirius" A voice whispered behind him. Sirius looked behind him and saw Ron at the top of the stairs. A quick glance into the living room and Sirius was up the stairs and entered Ron's room. Hermione was already there.

Ron closed the door before sitting down on his bed, beside Hermione. "You worried yet?" Ron asked bluntly. Sirius sighed deeply.

"I'm always worried if it involves Harry" He answered. This caused a smile on the other's faces.

"Lets not be so glum. There is probably a good reason for Hedwig being so late. After al it depends on the sender how fast a letter arrives. Harry must have been too busy to reply yet and Hedwig wouldn't leave Harry without a good reason" Hermione said.

"Good reason as in a letter to deliver" Sirius picked up on her thoughts. Hermione nodded.

"But Harry had already ordered Hedwig to not stay at the Dursley's. He already told her to come to my place. So would she still stay?" Ron wondered out loud.

"You may have a point" Hermione replied.

"Or maybe you three are all overreacting" a calm voice sounded from behind the door. Sirius turned around as Ron and Hermione jumped to their feet.

The door opened revealing Remus Lupin, but they had already guessed that from the voice. "So what's this all about. It isn't the first time Harry's letters are late. Why the sudden increase in worry?" He inquired.

The three shared a look before all three sighed. "It's because of a request from Harry" Hermione started. At seeing Remus calm nod, she continued. "He requested that we sent our letter with Sirius's owl, said it was easier" She finished.

"Easier?" Remus asked confused.

"He didn't elaborate" Sirius answered.

"We were just worried because it's a strange request to make" Hermione added.

"And maybe it was for the simple reasons" Remus said. At the confused looks he continued. "Like sending Hedwig to Ron. There she can fly and be an actual owl and is not confined to her cage most of the day. Also, Harry knew you'd get an owl from me, I told him I wanted to get you something since you were re-entering the living world instead of chasing prey in the forbidden woods. Maybe Harry decided to let your owl get used to delivering letters or simply to keep you busy, Sirius" Remus explained.

"Keep _me_ busy? The owl is doing all the work, not me" Sirius said confused.

"But you'd have to take care of it, when it comes back and is tired" Hermione understood.

"Exactly. Whatever Harry's reasons were, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about" Remus finished. Although he knew Sirius would never stop worrying, at least Hermione and Ron looked a little relieved. With a smile on their faces, the two teenagers went downstairs, Sirius trudging behind them with Remus.

Even though Remus convinced them _not to_ worry, it seemed they had convinced him _to_ worry. Harry had a knack of finding trouble or as Harry would put it, trouble had a knack of finding him.

What is he were wrong?

* * *

_Look at that. I finished chapter four. I hope it's good and you all like it. I know I still haven't gotten to the name giving part, but see it like this. The longer I take to get to that part, the longer this story will be :P_

_Also if anyone has any good chapter titles in mind ,please tell me. I've never had so much trouble thinking of proper chapter titles. If it keep being this difficult, I'll just number them or something ,but I like to give a hint to what the chapter holds. Keeps people guessing even before they read. :D_

_I also made a short video about Harry and the panther, so if you like you can watch it check out my profile at random section._

_Please review. Sorry it took so long._

**P.S. **If anyone, who is good at dutch, would be interested in translating this story, let me know. I've been asked by someone if I could translate this story into dutch. However I HATE writing in dutch, even though it's my mother language as I'm from the Netherlands. I don't want to translate it myself, I prefer English. So if anyone wouldn't mind translating it, let me know.


	5. On Its Own

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I know it's hard to believe, I'm still recovering from the news.

_Summary: After fourth year. Harry thinks he survived the worst, that is until his magic goes haywire and he finds himself stuck in his animagus form. Through turn of events Harry ends up with Remus. The Order and his friends think he's missing unaware that Harry is extremely close. Can Harry make them figure his presence out? Does he even want to be found?_

Missing Right In Front of You

Chapter 5 – On Its Own

Darkness is like a veil. It hides whatever is going on behind it. Hides it from sight. In the spiritual way, it also hides sound and feelings. Your mind goes blank and all your pain flows behind it, hidden. Behind that dark veil, you can recuperate and get things back into order.

However, sometimes everything that was hidden is found again. Sometimes, when the veil disappears everything comes back in a quick rush and sometimes, it hurts. The veil can hide many things, but not everything stays hidden for long. Some things do, but other things, like pain, we need to find.

Pain is a warning and it reminds us that we are alive. That's why many people in depression seek pain as a relieve. Pain no one can go without, for without pain there can be no joy. Pain makes us realise, time is precious and makes us live life to the fullest.

But sometimes, very sometimes, pain makes us do the opposite. We try to hide from it, bury it, ignore it. We act too careful, afraid to feel it again. While this is wise, it is also unwise. By putting up such a shield, we miss out on many important things. Still, if you've been through pain many times before, all one can do is hide. If one's soul is so deeply hurt, can we really expect them to embrace it and go on?

The answer is no. Even if we tried, we would not succeed. This is different for everyone and everyone needs to decide on their own. We can give advice, share our own experience, but in the end, it comes down to oneself. It's a choice you make.

To hide or not, is a choice everyone makes. While some chose quickly, others chose slowly. But once you make the decision, it is not so easy to change one's mind. If you chose the depth that hiding brings, it's not so easy to crawl back out again.

After all, is pain ever easy?

* * *

The darkness lifted slightly leaving a fuzzy grey in its place. It was like looking through mist. With the lifting darkness, a stinging sensation appeared. It resembled beginnings of pain. There were no sounds, except for its own heavy breathing.

Suddenly sound filled the room. A door had been opened behind it, but turning proved too difficult. It felt weak, paralysed, but knew it wasn't. It was just exhausted. Muffled voices penetrated the air and the panther tried with all its might to focus on it.

"…seems to be fine….sure it will…..up soon…"

"I still can't believe……why would…….poor thing…"

While some of it made sense, most of it made no sense at all. The panther tried to shake its head, but all that happened was a sudden pain. But no movement. The panther opened its mouth without realising it and whined softly, barely audible.

"Did you hear that?!"

"I think so"

The panther had its eyes closed now, fighting against the pain. While it couldn't see, it could still smell. There were two people in here, females. It smelled them coming closer. Fear bubbled out of nowhere and the panther did its best to be silent. As much as its instincts screamed to lash out and run, it somehow knew deep down that wasn't a smart move. So it stayed still, which it didn't mind as much because that didn't hurt. Moving did.

"Must have been nothing"

"I guess. I hope it wakes up soon"

"Me too. I'd feel much better if it were to lash out. At least we'd know it was healing then"

"Well ,as much as I feel sorry for it, lashing out doesn't sound too well for me. You crazy girl?"

"What? No! I was just saying…."

"Yeah yeah, whatever girl. Come one, lets get some coffee or something. I can barely stay awake as it is"

"Sure, it's getting late anyway"

"Come on then. They wouldn't dare move it without you there. You're just as vicious girl. Come on, no more lingering!"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!"

The panther listened as one female passed by it, moving to the back where most likely a door was, from what it heard when they came in. The second female slowed her pace when it came beside it. It heard her whisper before she walked further.

"You beat him up good. Thanks"

With that the two females left the room. The panther listened as the door closed. Then silence filled the room and the panther let out the whine it had been holding in. What the female had said, had confused it. It couldn't make sense of it.

Strangely enough, nothing made sense at the moment. While everything it heard sounded familiar and the flashes of what had happened were still fresh in its mind, nothing made any sense anymore. This place, those females, the flashes, the pain, nothing.

Yet it was still familiar. It knew in a way, those flashes had been actual memories, it had happened, but why did it seem to distant. Why did its hairs stand on end from simply feeling the cold and smooth surface it was laying on? Why were its instincts screaming danger? And why did it feel so alone?

An irritated feeling filled the panther and a growl escaped its throat. The pain that accompanied it, was enough to make the growl end in a whine. Though it was nothing as bad as before, the pain was still pretty bad.

The panther remembered everything clearly. How it had been tricked into biting into the arm where the threat was hidden. It had felt the male's anticipation moments before it bit into the arm, but it had already been too late to stop its attack.

It remembered the burning pain that filled its body, it had heard its own pitiful whines and snarls and it had heard screams. They weren't near it, they were inside it. Inside its mind, far deep down something or someone screamed.

After some time the screams seemed to become worse than its own snarls as if that something or someone was in even more pain than it had been feeling for itself. The screams became worse simultaneously with the increased burning sensation. Then all of a sudden an ice-cold chill had filled its mind and then…nothing.

It couldn't explain those screams right now, although in the memory it seemed to understand their meaning. But now, everything was confusing and threatening. And its instincts didn't die down at the least. It had to get out! It had to escape!

Forcing its muscles to take hold of the pain, the panther forced itself on its paws and gracefully jumped off the strange silver thing it had been laying on. The room was mostly white with strange objects. It simply ignored them and focussed on the door.

That was the way out and while the panther was pondering on how to best break through the door, it never wondered how it didn't know any of the objects, yet it knew this was a door.

* * *

"I can't believe this!" Growell muttered angrily as he stalked through a deserted hallway, his familiars following obediently.

"Damn idiots, making me wait that long! What could possibly take so much time and people!?" He continued his angry ramblings.

Several hours ago, Growell had come into the department intending to deposit a, what he called, 'faulty' familiar. He had gone to bring the beast himself, wanting to get it done as soon as possible. After all, he had training to do.

However, as he got in the desired part of the department, several employees rushed of to do god-knows-what, leaving him waiting for several hours, since he wasn't allowed anymore than bringing in an animal.

Growell knew, this department was one of the least employed departments. Most people worked in the more higher-up departments, yet this was also an important department. They handled everything with their limited number of people, yet today something had happened that required a heck of a lot people.

Growell had angrily sat down to wait for the return of the damn employees. It hadn't taken extremely long for some to return, but none of them were allowed to do the job he required. The few who were in charge of that, happened to be busy still with whatever had happened.

They only returned after those several hours of waiting. Even his familiars had gotten annoyed from all the waiting and had begun to annoy him. Ni had been annoyingly flying around his head while Issun and Mittsu had been snarling and snapping at each other. It got so bad, that his familiars ignored his order to 'shut up'. He had made sure they remembered he was their bounded wizard and therefore their boss.

As soon as the required people returned he had stood up and practically shoved the bag with the beast into one of their arms. After snapping at them what was to be done, he stalked of determined to not waste another second in this place.

Finally reaching a door, Growell all but slammed it open, the sound echoing off the walls of the great department hall. The woman as the desk looked around alarmed, before turning back to her paperwork at seeing who it was.

Growell stalked through the middle of the hall, his familiars tailing behind and above him. He passed by two employees, who were chatting away in hushed voices. Growell stopped dead in his tracks as he caught some of what they said.

"Can't believe he let that panther bite him"

"I know, he's a maniac"

"Yeah well he got what he deserved"

Yeah, I know, heard about him being degraded"

"Serves him right!"

Growell turned around and stared after the two men. Now he knew something interesting had happened. Something involving a ridiculous stunt from a crazy guy and panther. It was the panther reference that had gotten him to listen for a little bit.

Determined, Growell stalked back to the desk and leaned on it with one arm. "Say, could you answer me something?" He asked with a smirk.

The woman looked up, placing a fake smile on her face and answered him. "Sure, what to you need?"

"I hear something about an accident or incident as you might want to call it, involving a panther?" He stated smoothly.

"Uh, well that could be. However I'm inclined not to give away such information. Things that happen in the department…"

"Stay in the department, yeah I know. However, you probably understand my interest in this information, right?" He continued to probe her as he moved his eyes to his familiars as if hinting at his reasons.

"That may be so, but I have instructions sir to not give out unnecessary information. And with that I mean unnecessary for outstanders" She all but snapped back at him. "If you still intent on finding out, I suggest you take it to someone in a higher position than me. Good day, sir" She finished.

Growell looked a bit dazed from her sudden hostility as the woman had always been kind to him. Realising this as her true face, he stalked away from her. Knowing he'd only find answers at the deposit of familiars part of the department, he stalked back to the door he came through seconds ago.

* * *

Growling in frustration, the panther went on another stalk around the room. It had tried jumping at the door, scratching it, biting it. Nothing worked. Its full weight wasn't even enough to cause a small crack or squeak from the sudden pressure.

The panther stopped its stalk and stood still, eyes transfixed on the door. If only it would open just by staring at it. Flashes of the test room appeared behind its eyes again, forcing the panther to shut his eyes. As much as everything confused it, the flashes seemed to make the most sense, although the screaming was still a confusing attribute.

Sudden noises from the second door behind it, started the panther out of the flashes. It turned its head around and snarled at the direction of that door. Anxiety filled its whole being. It had to get out now. It had to escape. It was not going through anymore test. It was getting out, _now._

A sudden breeze rushed passed it, confusing the panther. It was in a closed room where no breeze could come in. Instantly the door it was standing before burst open with a sudden force causing the door to slam into the wall as it fully opened. Not caring in slightest, the panther rushed out of the room just as the other door behind it opened.

After running through several long hallways, the panther reached another door. Surprisingly the door opened as soon as it came within reach. Just as it tied to sprint through, it noticed why the door had opened. Someone was coming through it.

Breaking of its sprint, the panther jumped back and turned around to face the new obstacle. The man gave one glance at the panther before he released a girly scream and fell on his behind, his papers scattered across the floor. The panther took that as its chance and broke once more into a sprint. The man on the ground paled considerably as the panther jumped right at him landing at his chest. Then with a small push of, the panther moved to the right leaving the man fainted on the ground.

It still wasn't out of there, for the panther was once more running in a hall, although this one was much larger. It must be a more used part of this place. As the panther ran, several gasps and screams followed its process. Its aim was the end of this big hall, where a double door, though smaller than the one that cut off his escape before, stood open. With one more giant leap, the panther was through the doors.

As soon as its paws touched the floor, the panther started sliding on the ground. The ground was much slippery here, though there was no water, just a shiny ground. Over crossing its paws and extending its claws, the panther managed to come to a stop, right against something big. It looked up at a big brown something and above it, the panther saw two shocked eyes watching him. The smell of a female filled his nostrils.

Shaking its momentous confusion, the panther got back on all fours and sprinted towards the big double doors, still far away across the hall. The smell of several females and males reached it, but it couldn't be bothered right now. It had to get out, now!

It distinctly heard a sound, like a voice. It ignored it and continued running, until something large suddenly collided with its right side causing it to topple over to its left and roll over several times. As much as that hurt with all its still aching muscles, the panther scrambled back up quickly and just in time to avoid the sharp fangs coming for it.

Turning back to face its opponent, the panther snarled at its foe. Amber eyes looked straight at its own emerald one's. Fangs showed and ears lay flat in its neck. Grey fur and lots of hair.

The panther immediately recognised the animal standing before it. Its opponent was a wolf. Its sharp smell now also caught the two other animals close by. One above it, which was a bird, a raven and one further behind it, a fox.

Letting out an angry growl, the panther lunged forward it claws ready. The wolf ducked its attack and aimed to sink its teeth into the panthers neck. The panther however was faster than expected and had turned around fast it claws ripping into the wolf's neck. The wolf went tumbling down to the side.

Instantaneously the fox and raven attacked. The fox attack from behind while the raven attacked from above. Not about to get caught again, the panther let the fox by its defences and instead focussed on the raven. Pain flared through its left flank as the fox's teeth sank in it. The panther ignored the pain as much as possible and jumped up with the fox still holding on. The raven didn't have enough time to fly out of harms way, and the panther's fangs easily surrounded the small thing.

The panther landed back on the ground, but the fox still held on. He shook its head throwing the raven far away from itself and turned elegantly to its side, it fangs eager to rip the fox to pieces. The fox however quickly released the panther and run several feet away.

Blood dripped from its new wound, but the panther paid it no attention. Its eyes bored into the fox and too late did it realise its mistake. Again a strong force collided with it and pain flared through it neck as once more fangs sank into its flesh. The fox soon joined the wolf's attack, both hanging onto the panther tightly.

The panther snarled and moved around, but it couldn't shake them off. It couldn't reach them with its paws, no matter how hard it tried. Finally the weight of the wolf became to heavy and the panther went down to the floor. Still both its attackers held on strong.

The panther felt its strength depleting, both from the blood loss and the fact that it was still recovering. It smacked its tail hard against the fox, but the small thing refused to let go. In response to this, the wolf bit even harder.

A voice slowly penetrated its weakening mind and both the wolf and the fox released their hold on it. Smelling and hearing someone coming closer, the panther closed its eyes. As a last chance, the panther suddenly lunged for the male standing closest, its fangs sinking deeply into its leg. The panther felt a muscle inside rip and the scream that followed only satisfied its revenge.

Then a sudden red glow, before every movement became futile. Many more scents drifted closer for a little bit, before all but two left again. Opening its eyes as much as possible, the panther watched as one of the two males was holding the raven while the wolf and fox stood behind him. Another male stood beside, looking grim.

"How is the bird?"

""Ni's gonna be fine. He's a tough one"

"Hmm, okay. So you still interested?"

The panther felt a chill run down its spine as it saw the male that was holding the raven, look straight into its eyes. The words he spoke next, only increased the cold feeling.

"Most definitely"

* * *

Angrily the panther once more threw itself against the bars. The entire cage shook with the assault, but didn't budge. Growling in anger, the panther stalked around its cage, anger coming off it in waves.

Right after he had been subdued, he was placed in this prison or cage at the end of a dark corridor. That crazy man had left with the other man to do some business regarding it. If the cage wasn't bad enough, the two silent guards were getting on its nerves.

The wolf and fox that had attacked it, were situated outside the cage, watching it. The raven was taken with the man. The panther felt satisfied that it had dealt some damage. The wolf and fox hadn't come off completely unscathed either.

Both looked somewhat tired and the wolf had some nasty claw marks on its neck. But the panther knew, they had come off easy. Except for the raven, none of them were badly injured. The panther felt angry at itself for going down so easily and not even doing some considerable damage.

In its defence though, it was in a disadvantage. The numbers were unfair and it had been all by itself against a wolf and fox. The raven wasn't much of an opponent. A bird against a panther!

A growl stopped the panther's movements and it turned only its head. Emerald eyes found amber eyes and the two stared harshly at each other. The panther could tell the wolf was annoyed with the constant stalking and attacking of the cage. Even though the panther couldn't quite communicate with him, that much he could tell.

Giving an angry snarl back, the panther slammed once more into the bars of its cage before stalking around again. If possible the wolf and fox both gave an annoyed huff, or something similar. The panther didn't give it any thought.

It knew it was in deep trouble now. That man had been eerie enough to make the hairs on its back stand up. Whatever was going to happen, it couldn't be good. It stopped stalking as the feeling of loneliness washed over it. It was alone in this fight, with opponents it couldn't shake.

Suddenly the panther wished for the wizard's presence, just so it wouldn't be alone anymore. The feeling increasing, the panther lay down on the ground, its head on its front paws. Ignoring the wolf and fox who watched with their heads to one side as if confused, the panther turned its head slightly away and closed its eyes.

* * *

The sound of a door slamming open, startled the panther from its restless sleep. Instantly on its guard the panther stood up and backed away from the cage door. The wolf and fox sitting on the other side instantly straightened up. Growell stopped in front of the cage and stared intrigued at the panther. In response the panther growled viciously.

Growell smiled before he took out his wand. The panther instantly backed further away, an angry snarl leaving his throat. Anyone else would have run far away from the sound coming from the enraged animal. Growell, however, was unfazed by the threatening sound.

He raised his wand at the panther and an unspoken spell flew between the bars. The panther moved quickly and jumped aside. Growell laughed at the panther's constant struggle to remain somewhat in control.

He cast the spell again, multiple times so when the panther dodged the first it would be hit by the second. The panther appeared more agile than Growell had thought as it avoided the spell no more than six times. The seven time though, the spell hit its target and the panther slumped to the ground, unable to move.

Grinning with satisfaction, Growell opened the cage and levitated the panther out. He walked back out of the hallway with the panther floating behind him. The wolf and fox were on either side of Growell, keeping up with his every step.

The panther couldn't help but feel defeated. Every time he tried to get away from it all, something or someone was in its way. To top if all of, he couldn't fight them of. He was a predator, but he couldn't defeat the threats on its path. So what was the use to keep fighting?

Moving through the open door, the light blinded the panther, as he had been in a dark hall before. As his sight returned, the panther found himself in a much smaller cage with no space to move around at all. All it could was stand and turn its head.

Growell left the panther in the cage and went over to the head of the department to sign the form he needed to take the panther with him. As soon as that was done, he returned to the cage and placed a spell on the cage and then lifted the spell on the panther.

The panther felt its muscles relax and knew it could move once more. It immediately stood up eager to attack something even if it seemed impossible. Even though it felt defeated moments before, it couldn't help but succumb to its instincts, which were demanding it fought until it was incapable of doing so.

Growell smirked at the panther's aggressiveness. He was going to enjoy breaking this animal. Without breaking the panther's spirit, it would never become a good familiar. But it was obvious that once it was obedient, it would be his best familiar yet, his showpiece among the familiars.

Placing a hand on top of the cage, he called his two familiars over. Placing his other hand on both the wolf and the fox at the same time, he focused on apparating back home. Ni was already sent to his house after being treated for its wounds.

The sensation of once again being pushed through a much too narrow tube, the panther's world went black for a moment. When the sensation was gone, it stood shakily on its paws. It was still rather dark wherever they were.

Suddenly light filled the area and the panther looked around warily. It was standing in what appeared a hallway. There were several objects standing in the hallway, but it were the many smells that confused it. Many smells were from objects, but there were a significant number of human smells.

"You're home" A sweet voice sounded from above them. The panther turned its head upwards as much as possible and caught a glimpse of a female standing on the stairs. More confusion filled the panther as it tried to figure out what a stairs was.

"Ni got home alright?" Growell asked rather gruffly. The woman had reached the bottom of the stairs and smiled pleasantly at Growell, unfazed by his gruff tone of voice.

"Yes dear. He's resting. I see you've brought someone with you?" Growell glanced at the panther in the cage. As soon as the panther noticed him looking at it, a snarl escaped it.

"This will be number seven" Growell spoke with authority. The woman looked slightly saddened at his statement.

"Why not give them a proper name, Ethan? Why give them numbers, even if they are in Japanese and no one knows what they mean?" She asked.

"They're not pets, Emily. They do not need difficult names. They don't need affection" Ethan responded as if they had this talk before.

"They may not be pets, Ethan, but they do have a soul. Just like humans they need some type of affection to not get lost. They're not objects, Ethan" Emily gently responded, but a little hurt in her voice.

"Emily, we've had this conversation. Don't interfere with my familiars. It is my job to train them and I see fit how to do it. Wizards and witches don't buy a familiar to love and treat with affection. They want a familiar to bond with, that can help them out in a fight and even protect them and their families. To get affectionate with a familiar is only asking for trouble in case they get hurt in battle. The wizard or witch must be ready to abandon the familiar to save his or her life. That's what the familiars are for. To help and give their lives in your place. Nothing more!" With that Ethan Growell proceeded down the hall, the cage floating behind him and his two familiars following.

Emily looked hurt and a bit angry. She never agreed with her husband's treatment of familiars, his vision about them. She believed there was a reason why it said a _bond_ between wizard/witch and animal. But she also knew she couldn't change his mind. He was stubborn and couldn't see past the servant to see the soul. To him, animals were simply sacrifices. Even his own familiars never got any affection.

She heard Ethan stop at the back of the house. It was late in the evening, so it was rather dark throughout the house. She flipped on the light at the back of the house before making her way over there.

Ethan had placed the panther in the middle of the sitting room. There were a few couches and armchairs, but that was all for this room.

"When will you give it its name?" Emily asked, refusing to say number. Ethan sighed at his wife's stubbornness.

"Tonight at midnight" Ethan answered. No sooner had he taken off his cloak and seated himself in the armchair facing the panther, then loud footsteps were heard on the stairs.

Emily smiled as the twins came bolting into the room and latched themselves on their father. Her oldest followed at a calmer pace.

"Hey you rascals" Ethan said smiling at his two sons that were doing a good job at suffocating him.

"Come on boys, you're suffocating him" Emily gently teased. The twins released their father and turned to the cage.

"Wow! A panther!" One of them shouted excited. The other one was jumping up and down around the cage, successfully aggravating the animal.

"Jayden, stop that! Give the animal some space" Emily gently reprimanded her son.

Jayden stopped jumping and moved to sit beside his mother on the couch. His twin soon followed. The oldest son kneeled beside the cage, observing the black panther intrigued. The panther, if possible, squirmed under the stare. It quickly followed with a soft whine as its head bumped against the top of the cage. It didn't like to be confined.

"Good catch, wouldn't you say so, Matthew?" Ethan asked his oldest son. Matthew remained silent for a moment before turning his head to his father.

"It's a beautiful animal father" He responded. _'Too beautiful to be in a cage'_ he thought to himself.

"Indeed it is. It's going to be one of my best, I'm positive. Once I have control, it will become my showpiece" Ethan spoke proudly.

"I take it you're going to perform the name ritual tonight then?" Matthew asked, his eyes never leaving the panther.

"Oh you're not gonna number it are ya dad?" the boy beside Jayden spoke sadly.

"Yes I am Chris"

"But I've got so many good names! You wanna hear them?" Chris continued.

"Oh oh, I've got some too!" Jayden shouted loudly sitting up more alert beside his twin.

"Boys…." But they had already started.

"I think something with black or referring to the dark would be awesome for this panther. Like Midnight or Dusk or even Shadow!" Chris began.

"Or more about the animal then the colour, like Fang or Sable or Scratch!" Jayden interrupted. By now the twins were so excited they simply shouted anything that came to mind.

"Maybe Devil! He looks scary enough!"

"No Twilight!"

"Nah, Slasher!"

"Inky!"

Silence filled the room at the last name. All eyes turned to Jayden who blushed at the attention. "What? Ink is black you know" He tried to defend himself.

Everyone smiled or laughed gently at Jayden, even Ethan was smiling despite not intending on using any name beside a number in Japanese.

"Oh boys, you're so adorable when you're like that" Emily cooed as she smothered the twins with a hug.

"Hey Matthew, you didn't come up with any names!" Chris spoke muffled by his mother's hug. She released her twins and they settled themselves on the couch.

"Besides them not even being considered…" Matthew spoke a bit begrudgingly. "…I think you two named all possibilities" After some moments of silence the twins giggled at the joke. They really had gone a bit hyperactive there.

"You know, Emeralds wouldn't be a bad name" Emily suddenly said. Seeing the confusion on everyone's faces, she explained. "It's eyes. They're bright green, almost like emeralds"

"You're right. Isn't that weird? I thought panthers had blue/grey or even white eyes. I've never heard of one having green one's" Matthew questioned.

"Lets just say it's a mystery, Matthew. It just makes this panther even more special" Emily suggested.

"Too bad something this special won't be treated special" Matthew began. The tension in the room grew stronger as everyone felt the argument between father and son brewing. "It's not even going to get a proper name"

"Matthew..!" Ethan began, but his son wouldn't hear him.

"Don't bother, father. We've been through this enough. I don't see things like you do" With that Matthew stood up and with a final sympathetic glance towards the panther in the cage, he stalked out of the room.

The panther watched confused as the young male left the room, anger coming of him in waves. Something about this male, made the panther feel sad. Actually the whole family beside the obvious Ethan, gave of waves of sadness and sympathy whenever they looked at it. The panther was confused, but could do no more than watch angrily at Growell who stood up fast.

"Matthew!" Ethan thundered as he got up from his seat. Emily tried to stop him from going after him, but Ethan was already out of the room. "Matthew!" He shouted angrily.

Matthew stopped halfway up the stairs, but refused to looked back. "What!" he snapped backed.

"Don't give me that tone young man!" Ethan snapped right back. Matthew gripped the railing tighter, but it went unnoticed. Emily came up behind Ethan, the twins were left in the room.

"Please stop this. You fight about this all the time" Emily tried to break them apart.

"Stay out of it, Emily! Matthew, you've got to get passed your sympathy. If you're going to take over when I'm through, you've got to have a clear sight of this job" Ethan spoke with authority.

Matthew whirled around, anger flashing on his face. "I'm not giving up on the way _I_ feel. I have a mind and soul of my own! I don't have to believe what you believe! I refuse to treat animals, even familiars like you do. I'm not like you and if you want me to be, then I don't want to take over your job!"

With that the seventeen year old stormed up to his room and the sound of a door being slammed shut reverberated through the house. Emily tried to calm her husband down, but he ignored her and walked back to the room with the cage.

The twins were slightly shaking on the couch. They didn't like it when their family got angry at each other. It scared them. Both boys simultaneously looked at the panther. The animal looked miserable in its confinement. The panther snarled suddenly, causing the twins to jump involuntarily.

They heard their parents coming back to the room and snuggled closer to each other. The soft whine from the panther didn't go unnoticed by them and they smiled sadly at the trapped animal. In a way, it almost seemed as if the panther felt their fear and sadness.

"Get to bed, sweeties" Emily said to her slightly scared boys, still sitting on the couch. "I'll come up later to tuck you in, alright?" Both boys nodded and after both got a kiss from their mom, they rushed up the stairs.

"Don't even start Emily" Ethan began as he and his wife were alone.

"I'm not the one starting anything. You've done that all by yourself. Keep this up and you will push your son too far until he's out the door, Ethan!" Emily snapped back.

"He needs to grow up and see things as they are!" Ethan threw back at her.

"No, he needs to see things the way you see them! That's what you mean, Ethan! You're so blinded by your success and vision that you don't even notice the anguish you put your sons through. I've never agreed with how you see animals, but I respected that it was your job. You never let anyone see how you train them, unless they are almost done with training. I'm beginning to wonder what you're trying to hide from us!"

"Let it go, Emily! My familiars are fine and strong and above all obedient. Look at them and tell me again if I'm hiding something! Look at them and tell me if you still wonder about the training!? Look at my customers and tell me if you still think my vision is wrong!" Ethan all but shouted.

"I can see that your familiars are well trained" Emily said in a soft voice. It was soft enough to get Ethan to look at her calmly. "It's not the end result I worry about. It's the way you get it. But above all, I see how your job is affecting this family. You're starting to treat your sons, like you do your familiars, without any affection" Ethan looked silently at his wife, if a bit confused.

"What do you mean? I'm the same as always" Ethan responded.

"That's the problem. You can't see it for yourself" Emily continued. "You say familiars are there to help the witch or wizard. Family does the same, yet family you don't treat the same as a familiar. It makes me wonder what the difference is. Both support you, both care enough or respect you enough to give their lives for you. If one of your family died for you, you would be grieving. Why is it so different with a familiar. Why do you refuse to see the similarity between familiars and family? They are one and the same, just like pets. Why don't you care for them?"

Ethan had his back to Emily when she finished. "You know why" he spoke barely audible. Emily looked saddened as she understood what he meant by that. So it came as a bit of a surprise when he gave a completely different reason. "Because it endangers the chance of survival in a battle"

Emily sighed, knowing he was simply trying to cover up his slip of the tongue. "You and I both know that's not what you meant. How much longer are you going to let the past control you? You're not like your father, even if you tried. You have a reason to be like you are, he didn't. Please Ethan, see beyond the flesh and find that soul, before your family falls to pieces" Emily whispered the last part. Then she left the room, leaving Ethan alone to decide on his actions.

During the whole conversation, the panther had listened confusedly. He could somehow feel the sadness and desperation from the female. Growell, the male was less obvious. The panther couldn't understand this man. All it felt for him was anger and hatred for taking away its freedom. Still, somehow a feeling deep down made the panther feel confused. It felt like there was more to Growell than seemed obvious.

Growell left shortly after the tense conversation, his wolf and fox following close behind. The panther clawed at the bars, but noticed it couldn't get beyond the cage. Not an inch of its body could get passed the bars. Feeling exhausted from today's incidents and still slightly aching, the panther lay down with its head on its front paws. Resting seemed a good idea right about now.

* * *

Later that evening a creaking sound woke the panther from its slumber. It looked around, its vision better in the night. It couldn't see what made the sound. When it heard it again, it realised the sound wasn't close by.

The panther waited patiently for whatever made the sound, to get closer. Suddenly the feeling that something was watching it came over it and it let out a threatening growl. Apparently this scared whatever was there form the sudden movement the panther could hear.

"Lumos" A soft voice whispered. Light appeared and the panther saw the oldest cub standing in the doorway with that familiar stick in hand. Seeing it the panther growled again.

Matthew looked a bit taken aback when the panther growled again. He then followed its gaze and realised it felt threatened by his wand. Matthew lowered the wand and carefully went over to the cage.

The panther felt less threatened when the cub lowered his stick, no wand. Confused again for this knowledge, the panther kept its eyes glued to the cub who was coming closer. Just as it was about to growl again when the cub kneeled beside the cage, his voice stopped him.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you" Matthew tried to reassure the animal. He kept his sad eyes locked with the panther's and surprisingly, the animal relaxed a bit. He placed his wand on the couch behind him, blocking the excessive light behind him. There was still enough light to see the panther, but it wasn't as blinding anymore, for both himself and the panther.

"I don't know exactly why I came down here" Matthew said as he sat down beside the cage. Matthew looked at the panther beside him and noticed the animal was looking at him with its head tilted as if interested.

"Guess you understand how I feel a bit. In a way I'm trapped, just like you. I'm just not trapped in the literal sense. I'm sorry you're here. If I could, I would do something, but I can't help you" Matthew said, sadness filling his voice.

The panther continued to observe the cub before him and in a way it seemed to understand him. It didn't understand it, but it found itself trying to reassure the cub. It let out a soft whine, not one of pain, but one of understanding.

Matthew looked back to the panther when the animal whined. His eyes were of slight shock, thinking it was hurt. When he saw nothing physically hurting the animal, he looked back at tits eyes. It seemed strange, but as soon as he looked in those eyes, he felt he understood what the animal was doing. It wasn't in pain. It was simply trying to lessen his, Matthew's, pain. This confused Matthew.

"Are you really a panther?" Matthew asked out of the blue. He didn't even realise he had asked an animal something.

The panther simply stared at the cub, for a moment not understanding him. Then the flashes, long forgotten, returned, though not as pressuring as before. The screaming presence in the back of its mind. The wizard!

The panther whined slightly as if in answer to the cub before him. It knew it was a real panther, but at the same time, it wasn't. This wasn't its own body, it was a transformed body. The body of the wizard, who's mind was absent.

Matthew sighed a bit when the panther whined. "Of course you're an animal. You've been tested and I'm just letting my imagination run wild".

Suddenly a creaking sound, once again reached the panther's ears. The oldest cub didn't seem to notice, until the second creak resounded through the hall. The cub reached for his wand before muttering something.

"Nox" As soon as the word was spoken, the light disappeared form the wand's tip and darkness once more spread around them. The panther could feel the cub tense up beside him and unconsciously tensed up itself.

Muttering could be heard form the hallway and both the panther as Matthew listened intently.

"_I think I heard something"_

"_I think I saw something"_

"_Ouch!"_

"_What!"_

"_You stepped on my foot!"_

"_Did not!"_

"_Did to!"_

Matthew released a breath of relief when he heard his arguing brothers. The boys reached the doorway of the room and Matthew re-lighted his wand. Both boys jumped at the sudden light thinking they were caught.

"Shh! You'll wake them up!" Matthew spoke in a soft hiss. The twins looked around warily as if expecting to see their parents standing behind them. "Calm down. I don't think they heard you two dimwits"

The twins turned their attention back on their older brother and looked a bit affronted. "Dimwits!" Chris said a little too loud. A sudden bang, had the twins running behind their brother.

"Nox!" Matthew muttered urgently again. All three brothers were holding their breath waiting for whatever made the sound to come out. When they heard it again, they realised it was coming form outside.

"Lumos!" Matthew muttered again. When he saw what made the sound, he sighed in relief. "It's okay, it was just the stupid branch from that old tree"

The twins looked at the window and indeed the branch was waving towards it close to once more slam into the window.

The panther had been watching this little interaction interested. It's sensitive hearing at easily picked up the creaking branch and thus realised far earlier than these human cubs, what was making the sound.

"Hey big brother, what was that spell?" Chris asked intrigued his eyes on his brother's wand. Matthew looked a bit confused at his brother.

"I thought you knew what Lumos was?" Matthew asked confused.

"Of course, but that other one I don't" Chris returned excited.

"Oh you mean Nox. It's to make the light, Lumos creates, go out" Matthew explained. Both twins looked fascinated at the wand.

"Cool, so it makes everything go dark and black" Jayden spoke with as much excitement as his brother.

"So what ya doing down here, big bro" Chris asked suddenly. Matthew gave him a big brother look, causing the young boy to blush slightly.

"I could ask you two the same thing" Matthew returned playfully.

"We heard something and went to see you, but you weren't there!" Jayden tried to explain, getting a bit upset.

"Okay, calm down Jayden. I'm not mad at you two. After all, I snuck out too" Matthew was quick to reassure his nine year old brother.

"So what were ya doing down here?" Chris asked getting back on track. Matthew sighed before answering.

"I just wanted to see it again" Matthew answered as he looked at the panther beside him. The twins followed his gaze and looked sadly at the imprisoned animal.

The panther had its head on its front paws, but its eyes were wide open. It had been listening to these cubs and oddly felt calmer with every minute. Now they had grown silent which unnerved it slightly.

"Wish we could name him" Jayden spoke after the minute silence.

"Yeah, guess our names weren't good enough" Chris muttered a little angrily.

"No, it's not your names. It's just our father being who he is" Matthew responded looking at the magnificent black animal. Suddenly Matthew's mind came up with something.

"Even if we can't name you, to me you'll always be Nox" Matthew spoke. The twins turned to look at their big brother confused until they realised what Nox had been.

"Awesome idea!" Jayden almost yelled.

"That's way better than our names" Chris added.

Matthew looked at the panther, who was looking intently at him. "So what do you think?" He asked it. All three brothers were surprised when the panther let out a gentle sound, as if agreeing with them.

Their happiness didn't last long, when the sound of the basement door opening reached their ears. The brothers stood up quickly, as if they were stung and the panther whined slightly in its cage.

"We should head upstairs quickly. If he finds us down here, he'll get angry" Matthew said taking the lead as he was the oldest.

He quickly walked out of the room with the twins right behind him. However as he made his way down the hall, one of the twins stayed behind unnoticed. Young Chris squeezed his eyes trying to look at the panther once more, but it was pretty dark. Chris couldn't help but feel like he was going to lose a good friend.

Silently he moved back into the room and stopped beside the cage. The emerald eyes looked at him, shining in the darkness. "I can't let dad take everything from you" Chris whispered before he bolted behind the couch as the sound of heavy footsteps came closer.

The panther followed the young cub who jumped behind the couch. Shaking once more the confusion about knowing the object, the panther redirected its attention towards the heavy footsteps. It already knew who was coming, the smell was unmistakable and the sound of the footsteps was unlike anyone else in this house.

As expected, Ethan Growell appeared in the doorway, a light coming form his wand tip. The panther growled, both from anger at this man as in the hopes that Growell kept his attention on it. It couldn't be explained, but the panther had a sudden protective feeling for the young cub hiding behind the couch. If he was discovered it wouldn't be good.

Growell almost growled himself at seeing the panther doing just that at him. It was going to learn respect, but first things first. It was close to midnight and he had a ritual to perform. He waved his wand at the cage, which began to float.

The panther immediately began thrashing causing the cage to wobble left and right, dangerously. If it couldn't get passed the bars, the it had to try something else. Growell seemed extremely annoyed with this sudden resistance.

Another spell came hurtling towards the cage, except this one went right on through and hit the panther. Immediately the panther slumped to the bottom of the cage and remained motionless.

The panther had heard the small squeak from the young cub, but luckily thud of falling on the cage floor and muffled the sound. Growell didn't waste any more time and walked back where he came form ,the cage floating behind him.

Chris waited in slight fear until he was sure he could get out. It had scared him to see the magnificent panther being subdued so harshly. But he had a mission and he was going to finish it, no matter how scared he was. So Chris bolted after his father as quietly as possible.

* * *

"Matthew, where is Chris?" Jayden asked when he and his brother were safely in their big brother's room. Matthew whirled around in shock.

"What do you mean?" He spoke rather panicky. His eyes scanned the room and he now realised Chris hadn't followed them. Panic increasing he ripped the bedroom door open and run back to the stairs with a swift 'Stay here!' to Jayden.

Minutes passed before his big brother finally returned. Jayden was about to ask where Chris was, when he noticed the crestfallen look on his brother's face.

"I think…I think Chris went…after them" Matthew spoke as if disaster had struck. Actually Jayden knew, disaster was struck. If their father found out any one of them had snuck into the basement or training building, they would get in real trouble. It were the only places they weren't allowed to go, never!

"But, what do we do?" Jayden asked now getting panicky as well.

"We can't do anything. Chris is on his own" Matthew said despondently. His younger brother didn't have all the details, so he took this as a traitorous answer.

"We can't leave him. We can take the blame on all of us. We can't abandon him!" Jayden all but shouted. Matthew quickly reached him and clamped a hand over his young brother's mouth.

"I didn't mean it like that, little brother" Matthew reassured him. Jayden stopped struggling and Matthew released him.

"Then what did you mean?" Jayden asked, doubt in his voice.

"I don't think he knows yet that Chris is following him. If we go after Chris now, his cover will be blown. I'm giving him a chance to get out. We can't go sneaking after them. Chris is lucky he isn't noticed yet, but he will if three people are following father" Matthew explained.

Dejected, Jayden nodded his agreement. They couldn't help Chris this instant, but they could if he got caught. They would back him up, no matter what.

* * *

The panther watched enraged at Growell. The man stood a good 20 feet away from him fumbling with some stuff on a table. His ears however were focussed behind it. The young cub was behind him, hidden behind the corner near the stairs.

Its cage stood close to that corner. On one side there was nothing and on the other side of the cage stood an annoyingly big plant. In front was Growell, 20 feet away.

The smell of blood caught the panther's attention. Its focus was on Growell who turned around wiping a knife clean on a cloth (1). The panther wanted to trash this cage to get out, but it was no use. It was still unable to move.

Growell waved his wand first and the cage glowed momentarily. Before the panther could realise what was happening, the knife reached between the bars and cut into his front paw. Blood stuck to the knife as Growell pulled it back out.

An indescribable rage filled the panther at being wounded by this male. The urge to fight, to put this male into place, was almost overwhelming. This wasn't right no fair. This wasn't how things got settled. He needed to show this male, that he wasn't a pushover.

Growell's voice broke the panther's raging thoughts. The man seemed to be chanting. Strange words the panther didn't understand. The rustle of leaves behind it startled the panther. Its sensitive ears caught the young cub crawling over the floor. He was behind the plant now.

Growell turned back around and the panther snarled viciously for all he was worth. Growell simply smiled at the resistance before walking closer. He was holding a strange looking vial with a blue substance in it.

Not one to trust strange liquids easily, the panther snarled louder and faster. The closer Growell came, the more the rage and threat increased. A sudden burst of warmth went through the panther and he found he could move once more.

Taking the opportunity immediately, the panther stood up and slammed hard into the cage. Growell was startled enough to back off a bit. The cage had wobbled a bit, but that was all.

"How is it that you can move?" Growell asked more to himself. "No matter. Luckily I have no need to touch you for this ritual. It used to work like that, but I managed differently" Neither Growell nor the panther knew why he was explaining this.

Another rustle from the plant, made the panther remember the young cub. It was trying to get closer, but if it did that, then Growell would notice him. A plan came to the panther's mind and it secretly moved its tail through the bars. As soon as he felt the young cub holding its tail, it returned its attention to Growell.

Growell was staring into the vial. He smiled when a nearby clock struck midnight. Without warning he threw the vial inside the cage and it exploded on contact with the panther. The panther growled and thrashed around, but nothing would make the potion _not_ hit it.

Luckily there was no pain. The substance hit its head, but besides being cold, it did nothing. The glass however had all but disappeared. As if it had evaporated, which the panther guessed had indeed happened, from the strange mist in the cage.

The panther focussed its attention on Growell once more. "All I have to do now it say your name, panther, while aiming this wand at you" Growell spoke with a smirk.

The wand raised to aim at the panther's head and Growell was about open his mouth, when the panther caught the softest of whispers behind it.

"Nox" Chris whispered, hoping it would work when spoken so softly.

Before Growell could speak the name or number, the panther glowed blue for a moment before it vanished. "What! I didn't even say the name yet! What's going on?!" He thundered.

The panther started thrashing once more and abruptly pulled its tail from the young cubs hold. As if the boy understood the distraction, he scrambled away from the basement, up the steps. He had succeeded and was safe.

"It only works if a name is spoken and I didn't say it yet!" Realisation hit Growell as he realised what that meant. If he hadn't spoken it, then someone else had.

Growell turned the table upside down in his rage. He was going to have a conversation with his kids in the morning. They were in trouble. Growell stormed out of the basement, leaving the panther once more alone, not even bothering finding out what is name was.

The panther lay back down in its cage, knowing it could do nothing but wait. It felt happy for those cubs made it feel like it wasn't alone. Even since the wizard's presence had all but disappeared, it had felt alone. Even if it were a solitary animal, it was connected with that wizard. To lose such a connection, was not a good feeling.

Perhaps that was why it got that protective streak for those cubs. They weren't the wizard, but it felt good to not be completely alone. Cause that was what it had felt ever since it woke up in that strange white room after the test. It had felt lonely.

* * *

_Hope you liked it. Sorry if it took a bit long, at least it didn't take me more than a month again. It was only three weeks this time. See I'm improving!_

_Sorry if things seemed a bit rushed at some point. I guess I subconsciously wanted the chapter to be over with._

_It turned out quite a bit longer than expected, but I promised I'd get to the name, so I went on. And sorry if there seemed a lack of panther scenes during the family's scenes._

**(1): Growell had cut himself to check if the knife was sharp enough. That's where the smell of blood came from and why he was cleaning the knife.**

**Just so you all know, this ritual is completely made up, obviously and it's a name ritual! It means the panther and Growell aren't bonded yet. It was solely about giving the name.**

_Also excuse the errors in spelling etc, unless they're too bad that they confuse people. I don't have a beta and I didn't feel like reading it excessively. I was just glad to get it done._

_Hope you're all not disappointed with this chapter. Especially the fights I get a bit nervous about, between the panther and the familiars._

**Important: These OC's in my story, won't have an extreme big role in my story. I just kinda need them in the beginning of this story. Ethan Growell will have a bigger role than his family, but even he will not be in it much. They are simply required for the plot. I do hope people who dislike OC's, ironicly like myself, won't give up on my story because of them. I'll try to minimize their screen time, but for the moment they are necessary.**

Let me know what you think in a review!_  
_


	6. Protective

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor any of its characters. Nox could be considered a character and it mine.**

_Summary: After fourth year. Harry thinks he survived the worst, that is until his magic goes haywire and he finds himself stuck in his animagus form. Through turn of events Harry ends up with Remus. The Order and his friends think he's missing unaware that Harry is extremely close. Can Harry make them figure his presence out? Does he even want to be found?_

**Missing Right In Front of You**

Chapter 6 - Protective

Early in the morning, Growell stormed downstairs and went out the back, towards the training building for his familiars. He needed to release his anger which had gradually been building up all night.

He knew one of his boys had done it. There was no way the ritual could have finished unless someone said a name at that exact moment. He may not have seen or heard someone, but as long as the name was spoken, even in a whisper, it would work. It's a delicate work, rituals.

Matthew certainly was the most rebellious of the three, but the boy was tall and could definitely not have hidden very near, which was imperative. Touch and a spoken name. Which meant one of the twins must have done it. But which one?

Jayden was the more daring of the two. He spoke what was on his mind and thought after he spoke whether it had been smart to open his mouth.

Chris on the other hand held back much more. He was almost to the point of shy, unless it was something he felt strongly about. Then he was quite outspoken. Chris was also the more stubborn of the two. Even if he wasn't in the right about something, it was nearly impossible to persuade his believes.

Jayden was more the easy going type. Sure he had an opinion, but when someone else's opinion made more sense, he was easily persuaded.

Growell found himself calming down as he thought of his boys. He shook his head and focussed on his familiars. He couldn't get soft now, there was work to be done and someone to punish later.

He watched with critical blue eyes as his familiars fought as Growell had instructed them. Issun, the grey wolf was paired up against Ottsu the grizzly bear. Ottsu was definitely stronger, but Issun was much more agile and quick.

The next pair was Ni the black raven up against Roku the cobra. Ni had healed very quickly and was on top of his game. Roku did not have the advantage of the air, but he was a deadly opponent. His swift strikes were nearly impossible to detect and he had the advantage of being able to "spit" his venom as well.

The last pair was Mittsu the red fox against Go the black house cat. Though Go was merely intended to stay at the house and protect it, he was quite useful as a familiar. Mittsu was a very cunning fighter and also very fast. Both were quite well matched.

Growell couldn't help but feel joy as he watched Go. He was in possession of a black panther, one could argue an upgrade to Go sort of. Even though he was immensely pissed off from his "failed" ritual, he was the proud owner of a black panther and he was going to make sure it was a keeper. After all, how many times does one come across a black panther.

He had to wonder though, if the panther was ready, what use could Go be to him? The panther could protect the house much better than Go. Of course the panther would travel around with him a lot, so Go could be used as a reserve protection, although any of his familiars could fill that position. It wasn't as if Go was the only one to protect the house, it was just that he protected it all the time. Go never left the house or its near surroundings.

Perhaps, yes maybe Go could become Emily's familiar. She always held a soft spot for him. That way, the problem was out of his hands and Emily would be a little safer, as long as he got it firmly in her head that she made herself first priority when danger was near. He would not have her try and save Go by endangering herself. He'd rather sell Go if she would not listen.

He pulled his hand through his dark blond hair before checking the time and was pleased to find it was time for breakfast. In other words, his children were awake. He barked orders to his familiars and they all went to their own kennel. Growell gave them all food and water and left the building.

* * *

"Here you go" Emily said as she placed a plate with pancakes before Chris. He smiled up at her before delving into his food. Emily smiled at the sight before turning back to the stove. She pulled a lock of her black hair behind her ear, so it did not get in the way.

She was a bit worried about him. Chris seemed very nervous the moment she saw him as he came down the stairs. Jayden and Matthew had arrived downstairs before him, yet they all looked…alert, as if they were waiting for something.

"Morning boys" Came a gruff voice from the open doorway of the kitchen. Chris choked on his food, the sudden movements causing his light brown locks to fall over his forehead while Matthew and Jayden had merely looked up.

Growell was surprised. It was obvious from the boys reactions who was the culprit, but he had not expected it to be Chris. Unfortunately for him, his reaction was prove enough.

"Chris" Growell began getting the boy's attention. "You were in the basement last night, were you not?" Emily's pine green eyes widened and she looked at Chris. She wasn't angry at the boy, she was worried. If this was true, she knew how angry her husband would be.

Chris was frozen in fear, unable to utter a single word. Growell moved around the table, but was stopped by his two other sons whom stood in his way.

"Look whatever happened, it can't be that bad" Matthew began, but from the twitch in his father's eyebrow he knew, how very pissed off he already was. Besides Matthew knew what had happened as Chris had told him this morning. It would be too risky to have asked Chris when he came up in the night, because their father would have soon followed.

"Drop it?" Growell growled **(1)**. "He interfered with my ritual! WHAT NAME DID YOU GIVE IT!" He yelled at his youngest.

Chris trembled behind Matthew and hit his face in Jayden's shoulder. Jayden looked up, his forest green eyes trying to peak around Matthew's back, trying to see how close their father was.

"Stop it Ethan! He's already terrified! You don't even know what exactly happened! Ask him first" Emily intervened.

"Don't interfere Emily! This about my familiar and that is my business!" Ethan howled back at her. Emily did not back down.

"And these are my children and this is going too far! What are you trying to do, alienate your sons!"

"Don't get me started Emily. He started all this! Now tell me, Chris, what did you do!" Ethan continued yelling.

"Go upstairs" Emily spoke as gentle as she could to all three of her boys. She was not the temperamental type, but this she would not approve of.

Matthew locked his teal eyes with his mother's, showing he heard her and gently walked backwards, pushing against Jayden who was still holding onto a trembling Chris. Jayden starting shuffling away from the kitchen never relenting his hold on his twin brother.

"Get back here!" Ethan yelled furiously. Emily had already moved around the table and stepped in front of her husband's angry strides as her sons passed her by.

"That's far enough Ethan!" she snapped back. Ethan would have pushed her aside in his anger, were it not for the wand now poking in his chest. With a snarl he stepped back.

"What the hell are you thinking Ethan! What were you going to do, smack them around? Is this how you train your familiars. I will not have you behave like a maniac to my sons!"

"If they don't behave and listen to me, they deserve worse! They are my children too!"

The sound of flesh on flesh resounded through the kitchen. Ethan looked shocked at his wife, whom was looking rather furious, yet a sad glint in her eyes.

"Don't ever threaten my children again. They are not slaves who do as you say. They are beings with a soul who deserve respect and need nurturing. They need to be taught, not drilled and _my_ children will not be brought up in a brutal way, not matter what they've done. Until you've calm down, you are not to come near them!" And with that, Emily Agaisey Growell left her husband standing alone in the kitchen, the side of his face flaming red.

* * *

Remus Lupin was not happy. He awoke, as usual, in the early morning and went about getting ready for the day. Now he sat downstairs at the table, sipping his tea, but unable to enjoy it. For once it was quiet in Head Quarters with everyone still asleep, even Molly Weasley.

No Weasley twins causing a ruckus, no Order Meeting, no gloomy Sirius, no shrieking Ginny and Hermione, no half-starved Ron eating in front of him…

He should be thankful, he should be happy, but he could not relax. Ever since Remus talked with Sirius, Ron and Hermione yesterday, worry was gnawing at him, worry about Harry. He'd said himself there was probably a good reason for Harry's replies to be late, for his request in all their letters. There was nothing to cause such worry. He'd managed to quell their worries for now, but now worry had taken a hold of him. Was Harry really alright?

He knew the Dursley's were anything but nice people. He knew Harry was treated badly there, as a slave, as an abnormal kid, but it were only words and little care. Enough to keep him alive, not enough to give him a nice time growing up. He wasn't abused, at least not obviously. Being locked in a cupboard, meagre amounts of food, left-over clothes, but only Dudley really abused him.

Harry had once told Remus, possibly in a moment of weakness on Harry's part as he kept his life at the Dursley's as quiet as possible, that Dudley always hunted him down with his friends, beat him up when given the chance. But Harry was quick and had magic on his side and managed to escape many times.

But weren't the words Vernon Dursley spat out, abuse in itself. Physical abuse wasn't the only abuse out there, this was mental abuse. But Harry had grown to be a great kid already. It didn't seem like he was broken by his relatives at all.

Remus set down his tea cup and got up from his seat. He started pacing all the while hauling his hands through his hair. Was there reason to worry? Wasn't Harry just busy? With what, chores? Surely Harry would much rather reply to them? Perhaps he wasn't allowed? But what if he indeed didn't _want_ to reply? Didn't want to discuss what had happened.

Remus stopped in his pacing. Of course, the tournament, Cedric's death, Voldemort's return….

They'd demanded of Harry that he'd talk to them, at least reply to their letters, not necessarily talk about what had happened. But was talking through letters enough? He hadn't wanted to talk before, so why would he talk now? But was it best for Harry to not talk? Eventually he had too. Was Harry struggling right now about what happened? Was he drowning in his guilt, blaming himself? Was he eating, sleeping? Was he safe!

Panicked rushed through Remus, uncharacteristic panic as he thought of Harry, James and Lily's son, Sirius' godson and his nephew** (2)**, not safe. He dashed to the fireplace, threw in some floo powder causing green flames to erupt within and shouted Head Master Dumbledore's office, before sticking his head in the flames.

* * *

Emily entered her youngest sons room and halted instantly. All three boys sat on the bed, Jayden in the middle and Matthew on the edge with a trembling Chris on his lap. Matthew was moving his hand through Chris' hair all the while making soothing noises. Jayden sat uncharacteristically still picking at his tattered jeans he refused to throw away.

Emily sat down next to Matthew who gave Chris to her. Chris immediately buried his head in his mother's neck, his hands clasping her shirt. "Easy honey. It's okay, you're alright" Emily soothed her youngest.

Matthew bolted upright and started pacing, as if he had been waiting to have his hands free so he could pace. All his boiled up anger and frustration and worry for his brothers demanding attention.

"I can't believe him! He's never gone this…this…..insane! I don't know what's with him lately!" Matthew blurted out, every word laced with his frustration.

"I don't know Matthew. He's never threatened like that before. I wish I knew what was bothering him" Emily responded to her oldest son.

Matthew sighed and pulled his hands through his dark brown hair. "I don't care what's _bothering_ him" Matthew spoke with something close to disgust. "I just want to get out of here" Halting abruptly, Matthew turned around to his mother, shock clearly all over his face. "I don't mean it like that, not because of you mother, I just can't stand _him_...I just…"

"Calm down Matthew. I understand and truthfully I want to help you get away from him. Your father is pushing you to a path you do not want to follow. I cannot stand seeing you unhappy and watching you fight everyday. I want you to be happy" Emily calmly stated to her son.

"If only I could take the animals with me. I can't stand it, dad's such a _jerk!_" Matthew blurted.

"Matthew!" Emily scolded.

"Sorry mom" Matthew apologised.

"It's okay, you got that temper from me. Sometime you just have let it out" Matthew smiled at his mom and Emily smiled back. Everything would turn out alright.

* * *

Sirius Orion Black woke up as a sharp pain cut across his back. He'd fallen out of bed, more liked rolled out of bed. He'd decided to get some coffee before getting himself ready for another boring day, so he transformed into Padfoot, stretched and trotted downstairs.

As he reached the last stairs, he smelled something familiar downstairs. Moony. Of course it was no shocker than Remus was up this early, but it was a shocker that he himself was up and about. Deciding this was a perfect time to jolt Remus' steady routines, he snuck down the stairs and into the dining area, if that's what you could call it. No one was there.

Moving on, Padfoot snuck into the living room, around the couch and froze. He had found Remus alright, just not the way he expected. He was staring straight at his butt. Looking further it was obvious why. Remus' head was gone through the fireplace, meaning he was contacting someone.

Unable to resist Padfoot snuck closer, teeth at the ready. Inches away he opened his mouth and promptly got sat on as Remus abruptly moved out of the fireplace. Padfoot let loose a howl shock and indignantly causing Remus to jump up with his wand at the ready.

"Sirius!" Remus raged as he locked eyes on the ruffled, black dog. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack!" Without waiting for an answer he walked passed and fetched his cup of now cold tea. Sirius turned back into himself and curiously followed after his best friend.

Remus was muttering below his breath, but Sirius could still hear what he was saying. "Mrs. Figg, like she could do much. She only sees him when they dump him with her, she's never been inside, she can't do anything but call for help if something happens. How can he possibly know Harry's fine when no one checks on him"

At hearing Harry's name, Sirius jolted wide awake. "What's that about Harry? Is he alright?" Sirius immediately questioned.

"How should I know! How should anyone know? No one checks up on him!" Remus blew up, unaware of the presence next to him.

"That's what I've been saying all along! So you were talking to Dumbledore?" Sirius asked. Hearing Dumbledore's name seemed to have a negative effect on Remus' already antagonised mood, which was a new one for Sirius.

"Dumbledore! Yeah I talked to him. More like argued with him. What's so horribly bad at letting someone go check on Harry. It's not like Voldemort can barge in there and he's not even looking for Harry at the moment!"

It seemed Remus finally registered Sirius presence, having reacted automatically to him earlier. His shocked face turned to the Eager face next to him, eager to see Harry.

Before Remus could give the bad news, that Harry could not be visited or brought here any earlier, a bright flame burst to life in the middle of the room. For a short moment they both swore they could see Fawkes. When the flame died away, a letter dropped to the table. Remus grabbed it before Sirius could get his hands on it and opened it.

_You may check on Harry's well being late in the evening so there will be less risk of being seen. Only two others may come with you._

_Albus Dumbledore_

Remus' eyes widened. He'd actually gotten permission. Before he could process it, Sirius snatched the letter out of his hands and not too long after a shout of joy. Remus' smile, which had found its way onto his face, immediately dropped.

Sirius. He couldn't possibly come, yet he was probably dead set on it. Remus turned to his best friend and as soon as they locked eyes, Sirius' happy face turned to dead serious.

* * *

Nox snarled at the man called Growell who stood before his cage. Nox didn't care for the change of scenery, didn't care he was in a big, open, grass circle. Only that he was still in this cage and that horrible male looking down at him.

"Time to see what you can do" Growell spoke out loud. He stepped back several feet before opening the cage with a swish of his wand. Immediately the panther took the chance and burst out of the cage. _'Now to see what your personality is'_

Nox knew he was going to be tested, he could feel something was going to happen. Nevertheless, he rushed out of the cage as soon as he could. It was better to be able to move, no matter what was out here.

For a few second Nox stood still and his eyes skimmed the area searching for any escapes or weaknesses in the fence. Then it heard the male talk and Nox' eyes sought him out. Just in time Nox was able to jump aside as a bright blur sped passed him. The male was attacking him!

Anger filled Nox, his edges of his vision were turning red. Enough was enough. He charged at the male, careful to keep dodging the blue, green and red blurs thrown at him **(3)**. Inches from the male, a sudden force collided with him and Nox slit over the grass. Quickly getting up to his paws, his emerald eyes sought out the new attacker.

It was a huge, grizzly bear. Nox stepped back a few paws, breathing heavily from the collision moments ago. A grizzly was not an opponent he could win from. Nox kept the bear in within sight as it looked at the human male.

"Hmm….not seriously aggressive, mostly defensive. Smart enough not to mess with a grizzly bear. Only aggressive when it can take on the attacker. Okay good. Ottsu place!" The Grizzly bear growled before leaving the area. Nox watched him go apprehensively.

"Lets see, you are in good health, breathing seems normal enough. You're stronger than I thought, good" Growell stated with a smile. "Lets see how you handle storing magic.

Before Nox could react, chains wrapped around his paws keeping him firmly in place. The male stepped closer and raised that dreaded wooden stick at him. Nox really hated that stick, despised it, but also feared it. Nothing good ever happened with that thing.

Growell watched fascinated as the blue spell hit the panther on the chest and then disappeared within the beast. He had his own spells to test a familiar's ability with storing magic. After all, a bonded needed a familiar that could help out in battle and not just in an animal way. It happened often that familiars were given spells to store inside them and could release at appropriate times. If a familiar was unable to grasp the magic, it was useless.

Of course it was a bit more difficult for the animal, for it was not bonded yet, but the test was important and would serve its purpose.

Growell watched the panther breath heavily as it stood trembling on its paws. Realising what he had forgotten, he grumbled angrily. This spell was to test storing of magic, but the name of the familiar was very important or the magic could miss the target or vanish before reaching the animal. Also it made storing the magic easier.

Too bad for this panther then. He didn't know its name, it would just have to get through it.

A sudden shout broke Growell's focus away from the panther. He watched startled as his youngest stood a little ways off.

"Let him go! He's in pain!" Chris shouted distressed.

"What are you doing here? You are forbidden to come here!" Growell shouted back.

Chris started trembling both in fear and in sadness. He couldn't stand seeing Nox in pain. He looked at him, ignoring his dad and waited. A few seconds later, Nox raised his head and their eyes met. Emerald eyes met forest green and dark blue. Nox forgot his pain for a mere few seconds as he watched those eyes fascinated. The left dark blue, the right forest green. An angry shout broke the connection between them.

"Get out Chris or I'll make you!" Growell shouted.

Chris' body was all for running out of there, but Chris' mind was rebelling. He was feeling a fury inside him, he'd never experienced before and that fury kept his body locked in position.

"No! You leave him alone! I won't let him become your familiar! Nox deserves more! He's my friend!" Chris screamed out his lungs. Growell's eyes widened at hearing the name. He had known before, but here he had actual prove that Chris was the culprit. Before his son was aware of what was happening he was standing in front of him. He raised his right hand and watched his son take a trembling step back, his hands protectively over his head.

He hand came down and inches away from his son's face, pain like a knife stabbed into his arm filled him up. He howled in agony as felt his body spin out of control and he landed hard on the ground. He rolled over on his back and froze. He was staring straight into those emerald eyes, but this time there was a fury behind those eyes he'd never before seen in the panther.

Chris stood trembling behind Nox, whom stood over his dad in a threatening way. When Nox let lose a growl, more viscious sounding than Chris had ever heard from any animal, he intervened. "Please stop Nox! I'm okay, please don't hurt dad anymore"

To his surprise, Nox actually listened to. He stepped back and rubbed his body against Chris' side, nearly knocking him over. Chris dropped to his knees and threw his arms around Nox' neck, burying his face in his fur.

"I won't let him get you. I'll get you out of here, somehow" Chris murmured into the fur. Nox purred in response, making Chris smile.

In the distance Chris could hear his mother and brothers shouting his name. He didn't care what his dad would do, he'd get Nox out of here, even if that meant he'd never see him again. As long as Nox was safe, Chris was happy.

_

* * *

Okay so I finally did it! I finished the next chapter. It's now wonderfully good, it's also a bit shorter that the others I think, but at least I updated. (I apologise for the slow update in my other stories, but I've been literally agonizing over writing this chapter, it's so fricking hard sometime, so I've sor tof pushed the other stories aside so I could please my HP fans for a change.  
_

_I want to thank __glistening moon__ for reminding me to describe the characters a bit more, since my OC's are not known and thus no one knows how they look except me. I apologise for the confusion._

**Notices in story  
**1. No pun intended

2. Sirius was Harry's godfather but in my story Remus is sort of Harry's unofficial uncle.

3. I found on a site that panther/leopards can see in color, but not sure if they can see all colors. But in my story Nox is effected by Harry's human knowledge, so it's not a big deal if Nox sees all colors in my story.

**Few Author Notes**

**- A few inconsistencies need some clearing up. **

**The full moon. I've found a site that tells the exact date and time of a full moon throughout the years. However, it also indicates the full moon can happen during the day, which is possible since sometimes I can see a moon during the day, not always.  
However, in the Harry Potter Universe I could not find if it were the same and from the books I can only find the full moon happens during the night. **(if this is incorrect, I apologize, but I'm not changing how I'm using the full moon, cause I already have a head ache trying to figure this out :D)**  
So my full moons will only happen during nights, but I use the exact dates of the site, but not the times. So for example, if a full moon is to happen on 1 January, in my story it will be the night of 1 and 2 January.**

**Specific dates are not accurate with the real world. For example, in HP Universe, every September 2****nd**** is a Monday, the day school starts. Also it states the students leave Hogwarts end of year at the end of June and somewhere it said the third week of June. I'm not going to be using exact dates with those, only the full moons get exact dates and I'll try and keep it as close to the truth as I can with the dates for leaving Hogwarts etc.**

**The time it takes the Hogwarts Express to get from one station to the other. It always leaves at 11 am (11.00 hours) for beginning of school year on September 1****st**** and I could only find that it arrives just after nightfall or early evening. So I've chosen 7 pm (19.00 hours) to be time of arrival, making the train ride 8 hours.**

This was all, I hope this clears up some confusions, it sure helped my mind ease up a bit. I nearly panicked when I thought of all these things that needed clearing up and still kept as close as possible to truth. 

Please review, cause this story is not easy for me to write at the moment, as you can tell since I very nearly took a year to update again.

Also let me know if you are completely against OC's or if you wouldn't mind some of them getting a somewhat bigger role. I can probably work it either way (keep OC's more in story or get them out soon). I'm just wondering if many people rather not read OC's. Ironically I'm one of them ,but some of my story ideas could not escape an OC :D

Anyway, please R&R!


	7. Goodbye

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor any of its characters. Nox could be considered a character and is mine.**

_

* * *

Summary: After fourth year. Harry thinks he survived the worst, that is until his magic goes haywire and he finds himself stuck in his animagus form. Through turn of events Harry ends up with Remus. The Order and his friends think he's missing unaware that Harry is extremely close. Can Harry make them figure his presence out? Does he even want to be found?_

**

* * *

Missing Right In Front of You**

Chapter 7 – Goodbye

* * *

"Sirius, please, just listen! I know how you feel, but it's too ri-"

"Don't tell me it's too risky and don't try and stop me! Harry is my godson and he needs me. Like hell I'm staying here! This is my one chance to see him before I have to wait several more weeks, locked in my own goddamn house!"

Remus' morning was not improving nor was his mood. He knew it was going to be a fight to keep Sirius safe at Head Quarters. The man was as stubborn as they got, even James wasn't this stubborn. Not even Lily, who stubbornly refused James for six years, could not rival the dog animagus' stubbornness.

There might be one, who could rival Sirius Black and that was Harry Potter. The boy was unbelievably headstrong, especially when people he cared about and loved were in danger. Still, as headstrong as Harry was, he was also persuadable and Harry was smart enough to know when to admit defeat.

Sirius did not possess such smart nor would enlisting Harry's opinion on the matter be helpful, even if the kid was as stubborn as his godfather. Harry wanted to see Sirius as bad as Sirius wanted to see him. Those two bonded so quickly, it might give an outsider a whiplash. It took, what, maybe two or three hours for everything to be explained and already Harry was willing to risk his life for the man.

Not that he wouldn't do that for anyone else. After all, Harry refused to let Wormtail be killed, though the reason for that was mostly based on him and Sirius. Not wanting them to kill. It was astounding how much of James and Lily was alive in Harry. He looked just like James, got into plenty of trouble just like James, though James sought out the trouble and Harry got caught up in it. But there was also so very much of Lily. Her compassion, her stubbornness although James might have passed on some of his own stubbornness which would explain why Harry would be able to rival Sirius so much. And Harry certainly had Lily's temper.

"Oi! You hearing me Moony!" Sirius asked as he used excessive hand gestures to get his attention as he turned to face Remus.

Looking up from his seat at the table, Remus noticed the fiery expression in Sirius' eyes, indicating he had just ranted a –what he would believe- an impressive speech, that most likely was meant to change Remus' mind. But in his far away thinking, Remus had not heard a single word. So he decided to circumvent it entirely and try a different approach.

"Look Sirius, Harry is being targeted by Voldemort and I only get to take 2 other people with me or we'd definitely risk suspicion and exposure. I'm mostly coming cause Harry trust me and knows me, so I'm sort of the person to check up on him and I need people with me who can hold their own in battle" Remus raised his hand to stop Sirius' offended objection.

"I'm not denying your worth in this area, but you have to agree with me that you're a bit out of practice. You've been locked in a cell in Azkaban and been in hiding ever since. I'm not saying you've become useless, so don't even try and act furious with me. I'm just saying it's been a while since you were in actual battle, heck it's been a while since you've been this long in human form. And if you forgot, you're supposed to be hiding, you can't be seen!"

"I don't care, Remus. I'm go-"

"And you don't even have a bloody wand anymore!" Remus argued with a last shout, ending his own speech.

Sirius gave him a defiant glare, his arms folded over his chest. Remus returned to glare, only with less fierceness, but plenty of determination.

"Harry is everything I have left, other than you. I promised James and Lily I would look after him and so far I've been doing a dreadful job of it. I care too much for the kid to let such an opportunity slide passed me. I care too much" Sirius spoke calm, yet with a fierceness in his voice.

"You think I don't care for him?" Remus countered, the slight hurt that Sirius may truly believe that, filtering through his determined look. Sirius seemed to hesitate for a split second, before straightening and taking a different turn.

"He's my godson!"

"He's my nephew!"

"Not officially, he's not!"

That made Remus choke on his words for a moment. Sirius seemed to notice, but was still too caught up in his emotions to say he was sorry. He needn't try for just then Remus exploded.

"So now you're going to put your foot down on the laws! The bloody laws that sent you to Azkaban! Since when have laws ever been important to you! Cause I remember clearly that you and James thought of each other as brothers! And all the Marauders were a family, not just close friends! You're trying to tell me something Sirius? You don't give a damn anymore about others? Only care about Harry now, or is it even better than that? Is Harry the replacement for James?"

Remus had gotten up near the beginning of his rant, his chair tumbling back to the floor with a bang and strode in front of Sirius. Remus words had ignited Sirius' fierceness into anger and it was visible now in his very eyes. If looks could kill, Remus wasn't sure if he would still be standing right now.

"That is a low blow, Lupin!" Sirius spoke in a barely controlled, bordering on hissing, reply. With clenched fists, Sirius forced his trembling body to move away and he left the room in a quick yet dangerous stride.

The fact that Sirius used his surname, was enough evidence just how much Remus' words had upset him. Sirius was pretty easy to set off, he blew up loads in his Hogwarts years. But Remus also knew, that something could only upset Sirius this badly, if it were with even a grain of truth.

But as painful as it was, Sirius had hurt Remus bad enough to make the werewolf erupt like this. Official or not, Remus cared for Harry as much as Sirius. It didn't matter what he was to Harry, James and Lily had told him themselves, that even though they'd chosen Sirius as godfather, Remus was not anything less to Harry nor would they want it to. They were one big and happy family, until it was torn apart from the inside. Now Remus could see how much had been torn from their hearts.

They were broken. The pieces scattered. James and Lily's death, Peter's betrayal, Sirius' imprisonment, Remus' denial, the suspicion that tore them apart before Halloween had even taken place. Only Harry remained and the friendship that had rekindled when Remus and Sirius fought together to get the truth from Peter. Harry was the piece that kept them both sane, that kept part of James and Lily alive, that gave hope that not everything and everyone was doomed. Harry kept their torn hearts together, kept them from completely breaking.

But was it enough?

* * *

Chris was feeling miserable. He was sitting on his bed staring out of the window. Unfortunately he could see nothing except the blue sky and the grass below. He couldn't see the black fur of Nox, couldn't see those green eyes asking him for help. His brother had promptly lifted him up and dragged him away from his friend and his bedroom window did not look out on his dad's training area.

Not that it would help if he did. All he would see then, would be buildings. But at least then he could imagine the animals easier, if he had prove they were actually out there, knowing they were inside those buildings.

But watching the empty pasture made it harder to imagine Nox being out there.

Chris heard the sound of the door opening, but ignored it. It was probably Jayden, seeing as they shared this room. "Hey bro, you okay?" Yup, it was Jayden. Chris shrugged, for once not in the mood to be around his brother.

"Hmm, guess not. It's about the panther isn't it?" Jayden continued not in the least perturbed by his brother's silence.

"His name is Nox" Chris replied with a hint of defiance. He wasn't just any panther anymore. He was a friend and his name was Nox, so they better start using his name.

"Okay, cool. So what about him? It's not like this hasn't happened before. Dad's brought loads of animals back. What's so special about this one, beside him being the coolest ever"

"He could be happy at Hogwarts" Chris replied completely off topic, never looking away from the windows' view.

"Huh? Whatya mean?" Jayden asked confused.

"I've read about this school, Hogwarts. They have this game…something and he takes care of…stuff, but also animals. He goes into the forest too, has plenty of animals that odes. Maybe he could take Nox. We could set him free from here!" Chris erupted, his enthusiasm rapidly increasing.

Jayden watched confused as he tried to process his brothers' idea, when another voice interrupted them. "A brilliant idea" Matthew spoke from the open door. They'd never even heard the door open.

"Really!" Chris asked hope swelling inside him.

"I think it's worth a shot, but it's not going to be easy to pull off. I say we could use some help. Just don't mention any of this for now. We'll meet in this room tonight after dinner" Matthew cryptically told them.

Chris jumped off the bed and hugged his big brother. "Thanks Matt. Come on Jayden, lets do something fun!" Chris bolted out of the room as Jayden shrugged and followed. They just heard Matthew's voice as he called out in a urgent whisper.

"And for Merlin's sake, act miserable!" After all, the whole plan would be utterly failed before it started if their dad saw them this happy.

* * *

Grimmauld Place was never a happy place to be. That changed when the Order and others inhabited the place. But at the moment, it was once again a unhappy place to be.

Everyone could tell something was up with Remus. He sat silently on the couch, an untouched cup of tea in front of him. It was already cold for there was no steam coming off it anymore. But Remus had not noticed. He hadn't even moved at all during breakfast. Molly had told him breakfast was ready, but he simply replied he already had breakfast. That was all they got out of him the entire morning.

As for Sirius, the man had vanished. No sightings of the man all morning. They guessed he was with Buckbeak, since that was usually the place he disappeared to if something bothered him. At first they thought he was sulking over not seeing Harry, but with Remus' behavior, they figured it might be something else this time.

And they were right. Something had happened between those two. Remus acted very unlike himself and Sirius was nowhere to be seen. When Molly had asked Remus if he could fetch Sirius for lunch, the man had rather snappily replied to her; "Don't worry, if dogs are hungry they'll come beg for food"

Everyone stopped eating, even Ron. Shocked faces stared at the man then glanced at each other. Remus had ignored them and sat down for lunch. Sirius had finally shown up, halfway through lunch. Remus had gone rigid in his seat for a moment, but only those close by noticed. Sirius didn't say a word as he grabbed a plate of food and left again.

Molly would have charged after the man, were it not for Arthur stopping her. They were grown men, they could handle their own business. Besides, it was no surprise that Sirius was quick to anger and could hold a grudge. If it got any worse, they would talk to them, but not yet. Chances were high, that whatever happened, it involved Harry, cause Harry was at the foremost of their minds and both cared for the boy as if it were their own.

* * *

There were so many. He couldn't see them, but he could smell them and hear them. And he could feel them, feel their hatred. But that wasn't right. Animals shouldn't feel such things, so strongly. This hatred, it wasn't normal, they shouldn't feel it. Neither should he be aware of them feeling it. He shouldn't be sensing this!

But he wasn't normal either. It was part wizard, connected to a wizard that knew things, that felt things. It influenced him. Things that shouldn't be, were. It was afraid, but at the same time angry. It wasn't his fault, he shouldn't be here. He needed to get out!

But with so many….it was impossible. He could sense them all, hear them, smell them.

A grizzly bear growled from his right. It was different from the growl coming from his left. That was the wolf, Issun, it was called. The bear was Ottsu.

Across the room came the cries of a raven and the yipping barks from a fox. Both sounded angry, both were full of hatred. It wasn't normal, these animals weren't normal. That man, he changed them, made them abnormal.

He was affected by the wizard, that's why he was abnormal, but these are true animals, they weren't like him. They were dominated, they were changed, they were sad.

The hiss of a snake broke Nox's dwelling thoughts. The last one was a snake. It came from somewhere to his left. It was alone and just as angry as the others.

He was an intruder. It was a natural reaction. But these animals, they weren't natural anymore. They were forced to hate, forced to change. It was not happening to him!

Nox let loose a vicious snarl that reverberated throughout the entire building, instantly silencing all the other animals. He was not giving in, he was not changing anymore than he already was. They could try, but they would fail.

* * *

"The Dursley's don't have a real fireplace, so we'll have to apparate. I'd suggest no apparating into the house. They tend to make things worse than they appear and it's bad enough if the sound comes from the street. Having such a bang in their house, will raise suspicion" Remus explained.

Moody and Kingsley nodded, understanding. Everyone had been surprised to hear that a small group could check on Harry. Remus had explained his plan and asked Moody and Kingsley to come along. Tonks had been a bit disappointed, but she knew this was a urgent mission and her clumsiness would worsen things.

The three man were at the table discussing their plan, when Sirius entered the room. Remus immediately stood up when he saw him. Everyone watched anxiously as the two stared at each other.

"Sirius you are not-"

"Don't try to stop me" Sirius interrupted, his voice slightly on edge. "You know I'll just sneak out and follow you"

"Sirius you aren't allowed out and there are plenty of people here to stop you" Remus countered. It did not have the desired effect as Sirius grinned.

"I've gotten out of this house before, not to mention I've escaped from Azkaban. You really think I won't get out?" Sirius replied a bit smug.

They stared at each other again. Everyone else remained silent, unsure of what to do. Remus could tell Sirius was no longer fuming, but he certainly wasn't calm either. He could see there was a sort of desperation in his eyes and his feet shuffled every now and then. They were nearly ready to go see Harry. Sirius was desperate to go, but he wanted to go invited and not as an escapee. He wanted to be allowed to come. Realizing this, Remus felt guilty of his outburst more than ever. He kinda got what Sirius was feeling and it made him feel horrible that it was his fault.

Sirius could almost see the cogs in Remus' head turning, working out a solution. He understood why Remus didn't want him along, no that wasn't it. Remus did want him along, but he also wanted him safe. Sirius understood that, but he was never one to sit quietly and wait all the time. Not to forget if something happened to him, Harry's chance at a family was in danger. If there was ever a chance he could be cleared of his charges, he could take Harry in.

Of course Remus would gladly take him in if something happened to Sirius, but they might not let him. He wasn't a legal guardian and being a werewolf would work against him.

Guilt washed over Sirius as he recalled what he'd said to Remus. It might have been true, but it must have hurt him badly. He had only said that, so he could convince Remus to let him come. To show Remus, he had the right to see Harry. He never meant it like that. He'd even planned to ask Remus to be Harry's second guardian, if he ever got cleared of his charges. So if anything happened to him, Harry could live with Remus, could have a family. There was no one else he'd rather have take care of Harry than his best friend. James and Lily surely wouldn't have objected.

"I'm sorry" Sirius found himself whispering inaudibly. No one heard him, except for a certain werewolf.

"Fine, you stick to the rules or we'll stun you and send you back and you stay in dog form until we're inside" Remus answered him. Sirius' eyes lighted up like a Christmas tree, but an uncertainty remained in his eyes. But when Remus smiled at him and put his arm around his shoulders and started informing him of the plan, that uncertainty disappeared.

Just like the old days, in Hogwarts, things were fixed. Cause they were friends and they had only each other left. No that wasn't right. They only had each other and Harry left and right now, they were going to see how their last hearts' piece was doing.

"Alright, lets go see _our_ nephew" Sirius responded.

* * *

In the middle of the evening a loud bang split the air and three man appeared in the dark street. Moody immediately cast a disillusionment charm on Remus and himself, while Sirius reverted to dog form.

"Alright, it's only a few blocks to Privet Drive" Remus spoke softly, though he doubted there would be anyone near to hear him. Sirius wagged his tail, but managed to restrain the need to bark from excitement.

"Lets start walking then" Came Moody's gruff response and without waiting to see if they would follow him the man was on his way, his magical eye swivelling every direction and his wand at the ready.

Kingsley had backed down when it was decided that Sirius could come along. Even in dog form, there would be too many of them. Knowing Moody was too paranoid to let them go without him, he opted to stay behind and came up with the idea to let lose another fake lead on the illusive Sirius Black, so that the attention would be far away. Moody was in total agreement to lower the risk like this.

It wasn't a long walk and before they knew it they stood before number 4 Privet Drive. Remus kept his eyes on the street while Moody opened the door with a whispered "Alohomora". Before Moody had the door open properly, Sirius slipped through the small opening and disappeared into the dark of the hallway. Moody followed mumbling disgruntled under his breath. He never did like it when someone broke his safety protocols.

Remus cast one more glance both ways before backing into the house. He was sure Moody would be proud to see him so cautious that he wouldn't even turn around to enter the house. Remus couldn't tell why he even acted this… well paranoid.

Checking to see if everyone was still in the hallway, Remus turned around and came face to face with Sirius, inches separating them. Startled, Remus jumped back hitting the door, but managed to catch it before it slammed close. With a fixed glare at Sirius, which he knew the animagus would see for Moody had cast a Lumos already, Remus hissed softly at the man's idiocy.

"Sirius! For Merlin's sake, don't ever do that again!"

"What did I do?" Sirius questioned rather loudly.

"Shut up and close the door! Someone could sneak up on us while you two are bickering like a married couple!" Moody whispered with an urgency of a paranoid man.

Remus did as told after a pointed look at Sirius. Sirius just shrugged his shoulders before moving to the staircase. Remus carefully placed his hand on Moody's shoulder to let him know they'd first check upstairs, though the man's magical eye would probably see his movement, one could never take any risks with Mad-Eye Moody.

They slowly made their way upstairs and stopped before Harry's door. In the wand light emus could see an murderous look on Sirius face that frankly alarmed him. What had set him of?

"Sirius- "

"Look, Remus!" Sirius cut him off, his voice filled with venom. "Look at his door!"

Remus did as told and immediately Sirius' reaction became obvious. Remus himself felt angry at what he saw. Locks where everywhere on the door and a board was in place too, in case the locks were somehow bypassed.

"Are they insane?" Moody suddenly spoke up. "If he were under attack, Potter could not get out!"

Any other time, Moody's paranoia could be funny, but right now the truth was too real in his statement. Not to mention, the reason the Dursley's placed these locks. These people were horrendous!

"Lets just open it" Remus urged in a hushed tone. No point in getting upset about it right now.

They unlocked the many locks and Sirius rather viciously pulled away the board and they opened the door. Moody's eye had been checking the room the whole time, but it was too dark for him to see properly*. Moody and emus held their wands alighted inside the room and they all froze. Harry wasn't in here.

Without warning, Sirius had snatched Remus' wand and was out the room and dashing down the stairs. Thankfully the animagus was rather quiet in his steps, though Remus wouldn't have put it passed Moody to have enchanted the sound of his footsteps. Remus had barely reached the stairs, when Sirius' voice echoed up the stairs.

"He's not here either"

Sirius came back up the stairs and looked almost scared at Remus.

"He's not in the cupboard either" the panic in Sirius' voice somehow filled Remus too. Where could Harry possibly be. Sirius was probably imagining Voldemort already having him, while they were waiting for permission from Albus.

"Lets just wait for a moment, Sirius. Lets not draw any conclusions yet" Remus tried to calm the animagus. Without waiting for Sirius vehement reply, which was bound to come, Remus snatched his wand back and went back into Harry's room where Moody was rummaging around.

In the middle of the room, the werewolf suddenly froze, his face paling. Sirius came up beside him, probably about to argue with him, but stopped when he saw his friends expression.

"Remus?" Sirius whispered worriedly.

"Blood" Remus answered. That one word had immediate affect. Sirius paled, his mouth slightly opening in shock or disbelieve and Moody turned around to face the two, even his magical eye frozen.

"What?" Sirius managed to say, the tone of his voice almost begging him to say it wasn't true.

"I smell blood" Remus said reluctantly. He wished he didn't smell it either.

"You're correct. Look here" Moody lowered himself and held his alighted wand just above the floor of the room.

Sirius and Remus paled more than they already had. A dried up pool of blood stained the floor. Sirius' hands were shaking at the sight. Remus recognized the blood, but didn't dare to speak it.

"Remus, do you recognize it?" Moody asked, affectively ruining Remus' day completely. Sirius seemed like a ghost when Moody asked that.

"Yes" Remus whispered barely audible. "It's his. It's Harry's" He said reluctantly.

A whimper from downstairs reached all three pairs of ears and they all looked up or turned around towards the sound. Once again, Sirius was out of the room before Remus was aware of it. He and Moody rushed after him, Moody groaning as his magical eye locked on something only he could see.

"Where is Harry!" They heard Sirius shout, the silence instantly broken.

Coming at the end of the stairs, the two man saw Sirius holding a fat boy against the wall by the collar of his PJ's. Dudley Dursley's face was pale with fright and he making choking noises. Remus roughly pulled Sirius away from the kid, for once thankful for his condition as he easily pulled Sirius away with his werewolf strength.

"Sirius, stop! This isn't helping!" Remus, caught in the moment, shouted back at the man. By now the whole neighbourhood should have heard them.

"Speak up, kid. Where's Potter?" Moody questioned the trembling Dudley who was pressed flat against the wall, fearing for his life most likely.

"I…I d..d…don't….kn..kn..know" Dudley stuttered.

"Who's there!" Came the voice of Vernon Dudley at the top of the stairs. Remus cursed himself for being distracted and forgetting to keep an ear out for any other noises.

Vernon Dursley became visible on the stairs, his wife cowering behind him. What got their attention was the rifle he held in his hands. Seeing the weapon set Sirius off and he wrestled himself lose from Remus' strong hold and almost flew up the stairs. He stopped when Dursley jerked the gun in his direction.

"Stay back! I'll shoot, I will!"

"Dad!" Dudley suddenly bellowed from behind Moody. Petunia shrieked, fearing her son was in danger and the sudden noise so close behind him, startled Vernon so badly he let lose a shot by accident.

Sirius flattened himself onto the stairs, Remus ducked around the corner of the stairs along with Moody. The bullet, thankfully, hit the ceiling and the plaster rained down on Dudley.

"You!" Sirius spoke murderously, having already recovered from the shock. "You did something! Where's Harry! What have you done to him!" Sirius demanded stepping close to Vernon Dursley, who was still recovering from shooting the rifle, his wide cowering in the corner behind them.

"Sirius, this isn't helping, come down here!" Remus tried to calm his friend. It was not good to have a temperamental, not to mention protective dog, standing so close to this excuse for a human being.

"TELL ME!" Sirius bellowed. Dudley whimpered at the sound, Petunia shrieked again and the rifle in Vernon's hands shook dangerously.

"I don't know! He's not here and that's that. Get out of my house!" If anyone believed Vernon Dursley a cowered, they were now proven wrong. To not only answer, but shout and demand while facing a murderous Sirius, was not smart, but definitely noy cowardice either.

Moody stepped passed Remus and pointed his wand at Sirius. A jet of red light hit the unsuspecting animagus and he went instantly down. Remus quickly caught his friend while Moody looked up at the Dursley's.

"You are keeping information from us and we will be back to hear the full story"

With that the three man left the house and used the emergency portkey to get back to Headquarters, seeing Sirius was not in a state to apparate.

* * *

"You two ready?"

Chris and Jayden jumped off the bed and quickly followed their big brother down the hall.

"Where's dad?" Chris asked nervously, his eyes checking here and there.

"Don't worry. Mom faked a message from the Ministry"

The twins were still surprised about their mother. They had no idea she had such a side to her. She had tricked their father into leaving the house, she knew Dumbledore the headmaster of Hogwarts and she was aiding them in setting Nox free.

They heard soft growling when they reached the sitting room downstairs. Thankfully their dad had placed Nox in the cage, for they were unsure if they could have managed it. Again, it was because of their mother this part of the plan had succeeded. She had acted as a frightened mother, asking him to lock the panther up while he was gone. Their dad had said the panther was upsetting his familiars and until they got adjusted he would not place the panther in the familiar building anymore. Their mother had acted frightened at the idea of the panther lose in the basement and after a while their father had relented and caged him, in exactly the right cage.

They entered the minimal lighted sitting room and saw their mother sit on the sofa, the cage in front of her with Nox inside, growling unhappily. Chris immediately rushed to the cage.

"It's okay, Nox. You'll be out soon. Please trust us" Surprisingly, Nox stopped growling, let out one soft whine before growing completely silent.

"Everything ready?" Matthew asked his mother as a distraction from the strange reaction Nox had to his little brother.

"Everything is taken care of. It's out of our control now. Fate will decide what happens now" Emily answered her oldest son.

"Alright, lets do this" Matthew said determined. Jayden nodded in agreement.

Chris had silent tears running down his face and they heard him whisper to Nox.

"Goodbye, Nox"

Then Emily lighted the floo and all four pushed the cage inside the fire. They were really lucky there was but one cage, the cage that allowed apparation and floo travel. It was meant for transporting animals home and this time it would be used to escape one.

They watched with mingled sadness and joy as the cage and the black panther within, disappeared from their home.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was walking at a brisk pace down the street. When he'd received the message that young Harry was missing, he had not known what to think. He'd made sure the boy was safe. This could not have happened, but now that it apparently had, he was determined to find out how.

He stepped onto the path that lead to number 4 and despite his urgency, knocked on the door and waited. Receiving no answer, he opened the door himself and stepped inside. There were no lights on and the house felt empty. Dumbledore walked into the kitchen and the living room.

Something was not right. He did a detection spell and was startled to find himself the only person in the house.

The Dursley's were gone.

* * *

**Well my dear readers, I managed to update this story before Christmas too. I'm absolutely thrilled I succeeded and I hope you all don't hate me and review for me please.**

Oh I forgot something huge! I was helped by another writer when I got stuck with the Dursley scene and she's amazing and has written her own brilliant trilogy and if you haven't rea dit you must check it out! Her name is **Kurinoone** and her series is:

1. The Darkness Within  
2. A Part of Me  
3. Deepest Reflection.

Without her this chapter would be far from online!

**Good news, the OC's are now out of the picture. The only way they'll be back is in memories and maybe in the sequel, if that ever comes. I'm not sure if Growell will make an entrance, cause obviously he will be searching for his familiar, but I will try for a solution that keeps him out.**

Explaining the star:

* No idea if this is true, but in my story for now it is.

{Chapter title refers to: Saying goodbye to Nox, sending him on his way to hopefully safety and partly refers to Harry being gone}

**Please Read and Review!**


	8. Confrontations

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor any of its characters. Nox could be considered a character and is mine.**

_Summary: After fourth year. Harry thinks he survived the worst, that is until his magic goes haywire and he finds himself stuck in his animagus form. Through turn of events Harry ends up with Remus. The Order and his friends think he's missing unaware that Harry is extremely close. Can Harry make them figure his presence out? Does he even want to be found?_

_A/N: I know this is unbelievable but yes this is an update. chapter 8 is ready, finally. I really hope I still have some readers. I can't apologise enough to you all and hope that one day I can be forgiven._  
_This chapter is a little shorter than usual, I believe but still an acceptable length. I'm not sure if it is up to standards of the previous chapters, I'll let you decide. Please don't be too hard on me, writer's block really took a hold of me and it's still lingering. I'm actually astounded that I managed to write this._  
_Okay I'll finish up with a thank you to Kurinoone, a fantastic writer who helped me with a difficult scene and helped along this chapter with her assistence. Oh and one last thing, the very last scene isn't very good I think, because I had to rewrite it completely when the site bugged me and I lost the first version of it. So I had to use what little scraps of the first version I could still remember to write it again. Wish I had photographic memory *sigh*._

_Enjoy!_

_p.s. and spelling or grammar mistakes I apologise for. I haven't reread the chapter yet because I lack the time right now but I wanted to upload it now before I lose anymore readers, if I still have some._

* * *

**Missing Right In Front of You**

Chapter 8 – Confrontations

The deserted hallways were void of any sounds, except the sharp clicking of heels echoing from around the corner. Wrapped in a green and yellow robe, Minerva McGonagall rounded the corner at a fast pace. Her expression -visible in the soft light emanating from the tip of her wand- betrayed irritation and a smidge of confusion.

When the wards alerted her in the middle of the night, her first thought had been that the twins, -Fred and George Weasley- were up to their tricks again, but she quickly reminded herself that they were not present in Hogwarts Castle during the summer, nor were any other students. This only added to her confusion as her mind could not conjure any other explanation for a loud, banging disturbance inside of Hogwarts.

Without the twins as an excuse, what else could be causing such a ruckus in the dead of night? Of course those aggravating twins weren't the only culprits at Hogwarts -Potter and the youngest Weasley boy surely had their own list of disturbances- but only the twins did everything on purpose, or purposely to disturb everyone in the castle, whereas Potter and his friends couldn't help the trouble they caused or so went their saying.

Few professors remained in the castle this summer, but even if they had all remained she could not imagine any of them disturbing the short period of peace they possessed during the summer. Perhaps a potion or spell gone wrong -which was unlikely to happen to any decent professor and surely neither Snape, Flitwick or any other professor she knew for many years would let something like that happen to them- and especially not in the dead of night!

Which left her with no clue whatsoever as she marched towards the headmasters' office, for that is where this disturbance was taking place. Let it be nothing but coincidence that the very night Albus Dumbledore leaves the castle, something happens and who else to drag herself out of bed to deal with it then Minerva McGonagall. Even during the summer she never found a moment of peace, but despite it getting on her nerves every now and then, she wouldn't trade her job for any other.

As she rounded the last corner, the statue leading up the office becoming visible at the end of the hallway, she couldn't help but wonder who else could possibly be in Dumbledore's office when the whole of Hogwarts was practically deserted save for the few professors and the many house elves. A stray random thought popped into her head as she stopped in front of the statue.

_Surely the house elves wouldn't trash the headmasters' office._

Brushing that ridiculous thought aside, she spoke the password and made her way up to the office, ready to find out who or what was causing her such trouble this time at night in this time of the year.

* * *

A group of house elves were busily at work in the Headmasters' office. With nothing much to do in the kitchen as it was summer and no hungry students were up and about, they had gone of to clean the rest of Hogwarts thoughroughly. This lucky group -existing out of a dozen house elves- had volunteered for the headmasters' office, or rather they had jumped to the job before anyone else could "volunteer".

the headmaster was held in high regard with the Hogwarts' elves. He was a kind master and never asked more of them than was neccessary. He also made it clear to every house elf that the students here at Hogwarts were the priority, even over the professors.

But as it was now summer there were no students and the elves could show their gratitude to their kind master by doing things they normally did not have the time for, like cleaning his office.

The fireplace suddenly roared alive with large green flames, startling the poor elf standing next to it resulting in him falling backwards onto the floor. a large object came tumbling out of the fire in an explosion of soot and dust. The fallen elf hastily crawled backwards to avoid being flattened, his fear cutting off his logical reasoning and thus making him forget he could have just as easily apparated out of the way. He was a house elf afterall.

As the flames died away and the cloud mixture of dust and soot settled, the house elves stared transfixed upon the object that loomed over them in height -which wasn't hard as house elves weren't particularly tall.

It was a huge -in house elf comparison- cage. A metal cage with bars on every side, closed on the top. And inside the cage sat a large black feline who in response to their staring growled particularly loud, its eyes clearly showing how very angry it was.

"B...big...k..k...kitty," the fallen house elf stuttered in a high pitched voice from his seat on the floor still. "Big b...bl..black kitty." Doay -as was his name- clarified for his companions.

No one else spoke, but all the house elves nodded as if accepting Doay's clarification. the black cat swatted one of its paws at the bars, growling angrily and causing all the elves to jump in shock except for Doay who rather than jump released some magic. It went straight for the cage hitting it with unintended aim straight at the lock. The lock popped lose and the cagedoor creaked slightly as it opened a sliver.

Silence filled the office as all elves held their breaths. The black feline wasted no time -showing high intelligence at its quick to understand the situation- and burst through the opened door into freedom, well a sort of freedome. It was simply in a bigger cage now, the office.

Panic rushed through the elves as the black monster burst free and they were running and jumping out of its way. A few managed to catch their wits about them and after seeking a high place out of reach from the black monster, their tried to bind it with their magic. But they had underestimated the feline. Extremely agile and quick it dodged their well placed spells, overturning side tables and other objects to hide behind.

Despite failings, others gained courage from their efforts at began to aid them. Soon enough the office no longer resembled an office, but rather a bombing area. house elves were scattered around the room, hidden between the broken tables, sde tables and many other objects within the office, the black cat hidden behind the headmasters' desk, one of the few things still in one piece along with Fawkes the phoenix' stand. The phoenix itself was luckily out this evening.

It was then -when the fight momentarily seized to recover their wits- that the Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall entered the headmasters' office.

* * *

A loud bang broke the tense silence in Grimmauld Place followed soon by cluttering noises of people losing their footing and ending -from the sounds of it- with people ending up on the floor. A shout and curse followed after as a familiar voice grumbled angrily.

"Damnit!" Sirius Black was not a happy person. he pulled himself free from the tangle of limbs he and his friend Remus were strung up in and jumped to his feet. Without pausing and completely ignoring the other inhabitants of his hated childhood house, he strode over to the living room, intend on returning to those horrible excuses for human beings.

"Sirius!" Sirius could hear the warning in that one word, already acutely aware of Remus moving behind him with the intention to stop him. Animal instincts that had rubbed off on him after such a long time as a dog, warned him of exactly when Remus was within range. He ducked beneath his friend's outstretched hand avoiding contact and swung around in a blur getting in his friend's face, anger dominating him.

"What!" He blurted in Remus' face, no longer able to control himself, if he ever was. Harry was missing, his godson was missing and those monsters knew something. Sirius was sure of it. They couldn't be trusted. And Sirius was to be damned before he gave up on any clue to Harry's wereabouts.

"What's with the 'Sirius' warning? My godson is missing! _Harry _is missing!And those horrid- ," Sirius paused as he thought of a proper word to call the Durselys. "-swines knows what happened! How can you not notice someone disappearing form your own house? They did something to him Remus!"

"You don't know that," Remus began trying to force reason into his irrational friends' mind. "and you are not going back there!" Remus stepped closer to the furious animagus, vaguely wondering if becoming an dog animagus had made Sirius even more protective than he already was. "Albus is already there, give him time. He'll find out what happened."

Sirius snorted, obviously not as convinced of the man as everyone else was. Sirius always liked the headmaster when he attended Hogwarts himself for the man was never to strict about their jokes, seeing the fun in them. He was a lenient man, or so Sirius thought until he met Harry. How the fool could possibly believe that Harry was safe with those _relatives_, if you could call them that, was beyond him. No protection was worth the suffering of a child and Sirius would not forgive the man anytime soon -maybe never- for ruining his godson's childhood like that.

"Harry is missing?" the two Marauders turned around at the new voice startled. Nymphadora Tonks stood in the doorway with a shocked expression marking her face, he bubblegum pink hair drifting to a few shades darker.

Remus felt like a balloon that got punctured. He had hoped to prevent informing anyone else until Dumbledore had returned with news. He also worried for he did know what to expect from Tonks. She cared about Harry when she hadn't even met him yet, but Sirius had told her about him and the fact that the kid was sort of her family and he sounded like a nice kid was enough for her to care deeply for his wellfare.

Sirius sighed in annoyance and turned away. He had a place to be tonight. "Sirius!" Tonks shouted in an upset voice, not liking that he ignored her and didn't answer. Remus snapped out of his haze and turned around swiftly and managed to grab Sirius by the collar effectively stopping him -and in result angering him.

Roughly pulling free from the straining hold Sirius once again swung around, his face red in anger and his body tense as if for a fight. "Leave me alone, Remus! I'm going back there, right now!"

Remus lost control, his own worry fueling his anger, and snapped right back at his friend. "No you are not! You are staying right here where we'll all wait for Albus to return. You can't just go runnign around out there! you're a bloody fugitive Sirius! you've already risked enough for one night. Besides you are not exactly in your right mind and I'll be damned if I let you endanger your own safety!"

The fact that Remus had cursed -and twice for that matter- should have been enough warning how tightly strung his friend was. Back in the days Sirius would have picked up on it in a flash, but back then he didn't have as important a responsibility as he had now. Harry was on the forefront of his mind and overruled everything else.

"You really think I'm just going to sit here and wait while Harry could be anywhere by now, lost or hurt. Heck, for all we know Voldemort found him!"

"That's exactly what you are going to do! Harry is missing, Sirius! No one knows where he is. Albus is questioning the Dursley's. There is no reason to go over there and interfere nor is there any reason to go running around outside without a single clue! And if Voldemort has him, we'd know by now!"

Both man were breathing heavily as they stared at each other unblinkingly. Neither of them had noticed the added audience now assembled around Tonks consisting of all the Weasley's and Hermione. A loud bang split the air once more causing everyone to jump in surrprise and ending the stare contest between animagus and werewolf.

Kingsley and Mad-Eye Moody had arrived and looked -in Kingsley's case- surprised by the many pairs of eyes staring at them. Before Sirius could pounce on either man with questions another interruption took place in the form of large green flames erupting for the fireplace. Albus Dumbledore gracefully stepped out of the fireplace and without pause strode straight across the room, Moody already moving forward to intercept the man. Together they moved into the kitchen where most of the Order meetings took place and conversed in urgent but low voices.

Sirius and Remus followed close behind catching only a few words such as "Ministry", "Harry", "Empty". Moody quickly responded to the Headmaster. "Already put some feelers out. If there is any news I'll know about it soon." Dumbledore nodded before turning to Kingsley and asking him to do something, again in a low murmur.

Sirius, anger rising inside at being ignored by the man and denied information about his godson, turned his angry stare at Remus. "What's he saying?" He hissed at his friend, knowing he would be able to hear it with his werewolf enhanced hearing, espeically with the full moon only a week away.

Remus however completely ignored him, his face pale and his eyes wide. He had heard what Albus had said. _"His relatives were no longer present. Whether they left voluntarily or against their will I do not know. I need you to find them. Please hurry." _

Kingsley after nodding to Dumbledore, suddenly turned away and vanished into the green flames of the fireplace without a goodbye. Sirius, absolutely raging now as his worry had begun to shift into panic -the panic of a parent- snapped. "WHAT'S GOING ON? TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING TO MY GODSON!"

Albus dumbledore spared the distraught man a glance sighing deeply at the demand. "not now Sirius."

That had been a huge mistake. Not only did he make it seem as if Sirius was but a distraught child, he intentionally kept information from him about Harry whom by law was his responsibility and thus he was in the right to want to know what had happened. He followed the Headmaster with narrowed eyes as he promptly turned away and walked right by him. Desperation, anger, rage and plain fear coursed through him and later Sirius would blame his emotions and Albus himself for what happened.

His body moved on his own, grabbing the man's arm and turning him around non too kindly and his right fist went flying straight for the man's face. The resounding crack was awfully loud in the chaos of the moment, but to Sirius it was but a dull sound compared to his own heartbeat. Albus dumbledore stumbled backwards where Remus swiftly rushed to aid the man and steady him. Everyone looked in stunned horror at the scene, all the girls beside Tonks covering their mouths with their hands as if too prevent form gasping in shock.

Time has seemed to slow down as slowly the realization of what had just happened became apparent to everyone, including Sirius.

Sirius Black had hit Albus Dumbledore in the face.

Chaos erupted as everyone started shouting at once. "Sirius Black!" "Albus are you alright?" "What is the matter with you!" "Are you insane!"

Albus Dumbledore simply raised his hand and everyone went silent. His blue eyes locked on Sirius' eyes and though it twinkle was missing, there was no anger in those eyes. Only sadness and calm.

"I understand how you feel Sirius," Albus clmly stated risking fueling Sirius' anger who hated being talked to like that. "But violence will not bring him back." Sirius felt his anger freeze as he realized how true those words were. He wasn't happy with what he'd just done, but he felt it was deserved either way.

"I will tell you what I know." Albus calmly continued, his eyes never leaving Sirius until now. Wearily, the headmaster sighed as he looked down, gathering himself. Then he looked up again and with tired eyes stared at Sirius. "We know Harry must have been missing for several days and that he was injured. We don't know if he is still injured or not nor do we know where he currently is. The Dursley's have left their home before I got there which is rather fast considering Moody sent his patronus as soon as you were a safe distance away from the muggles. This makes me believe they were expecting us to come." Sirius started at that thought. "Yes Sirius, I believe this means they know what happened or at least know something of Harry's disappearance. I've asked Kingsley to search for the Dursley's and Moody to find any news of Harry or anyone resembling Harry in both the magical and muggle community."

"We have to find him," Sirius spoke with such vulnerability that everyone looked at him concerned. Dumbledore nodded in response. "We will, Sirius. It'll take time but I promise we will find Harry and bring him back."

And with that Albus Dumbledore turned away and went over to the fireplace where he threw in floo powder and setting his destination for his office at Hogwarts.

"Is that it?" Sirius' voice stopped him from entering the flames. Albus turned around not quite catching up to what Sirius meant. He had told him everything he knew.

"I have told you everything I can, S-"

"Did you even notice the locks?" Sirius spoke bitterly. Remus caught on and looked expectantly at his former headmaster. Behind him Remus heard the confused whispers from Molly and Arthur Weasley about the mentioned locks.

"Did you notice the blood?" Sirius continued his voice betraying an edge to it, an edge that was steadily growing and turning into anger.

At the mention of Harry's blood, Remus paled, remembering how it smelled and how horrifed and scared he was for Harry in that moment, thinking the worst had happened to his nephew.

"Blood?" Molly Weasley gasped, both shocked and demanding at the same time. Her children began muttering worriedly amongst themselves and Hermione seemed frozen in place, her eye wide in disbelieve. Albus Dumbledore remained as he was, standing before the green flames, his back turned.

"Have you even wondered for a second how the blood could have been spilled? Perhaps the locks on the door could give help you out? Or the fact that that horrid excuse of a man had a firearm in the house?" Many gasps filled the room and Hermione gasped "a gun?".

These were normal reactions, expected reactions, but Albus did not respond in the slightest which further angered the already furious animagus. "Do you even care that my godson has suffered his entire life at the hand sof those 'relatives', if you can even call them that! Are you not even going to admit your mistake in leaving him there?" Sirius demanded.

At this Albus Dumbledore turned to face Sirius, his expression showing his certainty at that decision he made so many years ago. Before he could open his mouth to say anything, Sirius cut him off. "I swear if you dare tell me it was for Harry's own safety or his best interest, I will do a lot more than punch your lights out" It was spoken with such intensity yet in a calm voice that for a moment everyone saw Sirius Black the escaped convict rather than Sirius Black the worried godfather and prankster at heart.

Albus stared at Sirius with twinkless eyes for several minutes in dead silence until he finally broke it. "I will let you know when we know more," And with that he stepped into the flames and disappeared.

* * *

Minerva Mcgonagall stood in the middle of the office looking around in surprise mingled with disbelieve. She had not thought she could be surprised easily anymore having suffered through many pranksters of Hogwarts, most mentionable James Potter, Sirius Black and the Weasley twins. But she had thought wrong. Standing in Albus Dumbledore's office surrounded by guilty looking house elves, she tried to process the damage.

Furniture was overturned and broken, the many objects Albus collected lay scattered and dented around the available space and claw markings were visible here and there upon the wals and furniture. She thought back to her ridiculous thought earlier about the house elves wrecking the headmaster's office and couldn't believe her thought had come true. Of course it wasn't done intentionally, one look at their guilty faces said enough.

How to explain to the headmaster how a black panther entered his office or where it came from, eluded her. She understood that the elves had only meant to catch the animal to prevent any damage, but their attempt seemd to have backfired badly. Minerva was also displeased with herself for freezing up in stunned disbelieve when she entered the office to see the maginificent creature. In her moment of shock, the animal had slipepd past her through the open door into an empty Hogwarts Castle where the ghosts and Mr. Filch were now searching for it.

the fireplace roared to live then in large green flames. Albus stepped out of the flames and she watched as he took in the state of his office. There was surprise as expected, but there was a weariness in his eyes she couldn't help but notice. When he locked eyes with her she saw it much clearer. There was no twinkle in his eyes and a worried crease showed on his forehead. Something terrible had happened. Without another care for the office and how to explain it, she turned to the more urgent matter for it couldn't be anything but urgent to make the headmaster worry so.

"What's wrong, Albus? What has happened?"

Minerva noted suddenly something she had not before. A slight reddening on the left side of his face. Before she had a chance to ask Albus sighed, a defeated look upon him that greatly worried her. She hoped it wasn't what she feared.

"Harry is missing."

A strangled, high-pitched gasp filled the office. Minerva and Albus turned towards the sound and saw a house elf with big blue bulbous eyes that were begging them to tell him it was a joke. He was wringing a cloth in his scrubby hands as if nervous or perhaps worried and in a squeaky voice spoke up.

"Mister Harry Potter sir...is mssing?"

_Yes, Minerva thought. _Something had happened to Mr. Potter. It was as she had feared.

tbc...

* * *

**In case it wasn't clear: the chapter title, confrontations, refers to the confrontations that happen in the chapter like Sirius trying to return to the Dursley's but being stopepd by Remus, Sirius confronting Dumbledore, the house elves confronted by Nox and the most important one is being confronted with reality. The reality of Harry being missing, the reality of Harry's homelife and the reality that no matter how much precautions you use, anything can happen to anyone.**

So Confrontation with Reality is the most important referance I was going for.

_I hope this chapter was acceptable and possibly enjoyed. Please, if I still have readers, please review._

Next chapter could possibly involve the full moon. Stay tuned!


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